Our Own Timing
by super duper yay
Summary: So let's say there's a season 3. let's say I actually have a say in it. new faces, new places, new parties, new rules, new breakage of rules, new escapades, new accidents, and yes everyone, more new sparks. many. :]
1. Lullaby

The sun's glare was what woke her up. It roused her from a sleep she'd finally fallen into at two-thirty that morning, and was now being very persistent in keeping her there.

She may have been dubbed Little Miss Sunshine, but currently, her namesake was no friend of hers.

Keely lifted her head off of her pillow, sighing heavily. Her warm breath reminded her that she'd dozed off the previous night—morning, really—without brushing her teeth, and as she swiped a hand across her sleepy eyes, a smudge of black marked her soft skin, now gently tanned by summer's sun. Sun. The reason she'd only gotten five and a half hours of sleep.

Two emerald green eyes scanned the cheerful bedroom for the source of unnaturally bright light that had forced her eyelids open. It wasn't the window, and the sunlight that flowed naturally through it; it was as if that soft sunlight had reflected or bounced off of something, and Keely was well and determined to find that something and bury it under the small pile of clothes her mom had asked her to pick up off her floor last night.

Or…maybe she wouldn't.

She located the object that had caused her early morning wake up call, made worse by the fact that she was a sixteen-year-old growing girl who needed her sleep, and her grumpy expression faltered. It was quickly replaced with a soft smile and a wave of gentle butterflies that pulsed through her.

A silver saltshaker caught the sunlight from its position on her dresser.

Just perfectly.

Sleep? Who needed it?

Memories came rushing back to her at the very image of the every-day, run-of-the-mill kitchen utensil that meant the world to Keely Teslow. Thoughts of him were all she needed.

_We can look at these and remember that we're supposed to be together…_

Just the memory of his warm and familiar voice as it spoke that beautiful statement made her want, _need_ to hear it again, right then and there.

You can't always get what you want.

She swung her long legs over the side of the bed, getting up clumsily, realizing once more just how tired she was. She kept her eyes on the saltshaker as she approached it, sweeping it into her grasp quickly and holding it tightly. The colors of her room blended together around her, as she remembered the last words he'd spoken to her.

* * *

"Sleep tight, Pepper."

It was 2:25 a.m., and her eyelids were drooping. His gentle voice, slightly distorted over the phone line but not to the point where it was no longer beautifully warm and familiar, wasn't helping to keep her awake. It was like a lullaby.

"Mmm…you, too, Salt." A smile played across her lips, and hearing herself speak his nickname awakened her senses for a moment.

"It was really nice talking to you…until 2:30." She giggled. "Especially after we already spent three hours together tonight. Phil Diffy, you're gonna give me bags under my eyes. How many big-time reporters do you know with baggy eyes?"

Phil laughed heartedly, but it sounded like he was holding it back. She knew that he, too, was trying to keep his voice down so as not to wake his sleeping parents or…_possibly_ sleeping sister. You never know with Pim.

"Baggy eyes?" he questioned, still laughing.

"Yes. That's what I said." But Keely's last words were swallowed up by her own giggles.

"Well, Keel...since school and any more H.G. Wells morning reports are still about four weeks away, I think you've got time to sleep those off," Phil joked, the last of his laughter fading away. "Or, you could just not worry about them…considering that, well…"

"Well…what?"

"Well, I've pretty much never noticed anything unattractive about your face...at all. I think those news broadcasts will be just as stunning as they've always been. Baggy eyes or none."

Keely's heart leapt. "Phil…" Her face relaxed into a huge smile. "Thank you. You're so sweet."

For some reason, she always felt at loss for words when her boyfriend said things like that to her, even after two months of their "official" status. But maybe that was what it was all about. No need for words.

"Keel," Phil began, gently.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be tied up in a closet with duct tape over your mouth at three a.m.?"

Keely's eyebrows raised to their limit, as she sat up suddenly. "What!"

There was a beat's pause on the other end of the line, and then, a familiar voice. Not the one that gave her butterflies, though.

"Well, would you like to find out? 'Cause, whaddya know, it's three a.m., I've got a closet and some duct tape, and I've been listening to you giggle your brains out over each other for AN HOUR!"

Pim's voice on the other line was stretched to its limit with sarcasm and false cheerfulness, ending in one of her signature outbursts. Keely could just picture her in messy pigtails and a bathrobe, gritting her teeth as she held the phone in a bonecrushing grip. She tried to hold back a giggle, unsuccessfully.

"Pim," Phil responded, "if you don't want to hear me talking to Keely, use your Wizrd to soundproof your walls." He paused. "You really should use it while you still can, anyway— I recall something, oh, about a month ago,involving a report card, a grade that mysteriously changed, a phone call from Hackett, 'Mom' talking to him all about it…?"

Pim sounded bewildered. "I…you don't know about that!"

"And yet, I just told you all about it. Funny story. I wonder who else would liketo hear …?"

"Alright, fine." For a fleeting moment, Pim sounded panicked. It quickly passed. "Just both of you cut the chatter already, for the love of grapefruit! A girl needs her sleep!" There was a click.

Phil sighed. "Uh, sorry about her…"

Keely just laughed. "Phil, she's Pim. Pim's gonna be Pim. That's okay." She shrugged. "Besides…I'm actually kind of thankful that I still get to hear her ranting and raving… it means that you guys aren't in another century right now. That...you decided not to leave after all." She smiled, throwing a glance in her saltshaker's direction.

"Mmm…" Phil agreed gently, recalling the emotional rollercoaster that was the end of their sophomore year, now about two months past. "You know, you're right. When you put it that way, I'm glad you get to hear her raving, too." They both laughed, gently. There was another perfectly comfortable moment's silence.

"You tired, Keel?" Phil asked.

"Huh?" She'd been losing control of her eyelids again.

"Yeah… me too." He yawned. "I guess we should probably both try to sleep," he suggested.

"You're right." Keely caught the yawn bug. "We're still up for tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Is my sister the spawn of evil?"

"The spawn of evil?"

"In other words," Phil said, "of course we are."

Keely laughed. "Awesome. I'd be counting the hours if I weren't sleeping." She gazed out her window, at the round beauty of a moon against the velvet sky.

His voice physically relaxed her. "I'd be kissing you goodnight, if the present situation was going _my_ way."

Keely felt her breath catch in her chest. "That'd be…perfect," she told him softly. "But I like hearing you say it just as much."

"Well, then…" Phil's voice dropped to an irresistible whisper.

"Sleep tight, Pepper."

"Goodnight, Salt..."

She hung up her phone, laying it gently on her nightstand. A smile hung on her lips as she sighed herself to sleep, still in the cute summer outfit she'd worn to the date with the boy of her dreams that evening.

_I love you, Phil…thank God you stayed._


	2. Jasmine and Aladdin

**You thought the Diffys had left, didn't you?**

**Well, nope. Not in my version of the third season! **

**But we'll elaborate more on that later in the story.**

**Okay so, just a recap….once again, this is just the beginning of what I imagine POTF's 3rd season could be like. I DO NOT own any part of the actual production of the show, and I'm not trying to take over the writing of it or anything, this is just my idea of it. (Cuz how much would that rock?) This story is Pheely, but it also involves the rest of the POTF crew. It's just basically what I think could happen in new episodes. **

**As we all know though, it's been cancelled (ok, this is a cry moment…sniff), so we can only hope for this 3rd season…but the good news is, there IS hope for one. (yay!) There's been such a huge effort to save it that Disney is definitely taking notice, but we can't back down yet, and we need all the help we can get. You can visit SaveDisneyShows dot org to get involved (when I typed the actual url it wouldn't show up, but you get the idea…) Gotta think positively. We can do this! TADOW! **

**Yippeee! (reminds self of Debbie Berwick a little)**

**Creepy.**

**Anyway, here we go.**

**Love,**

**Your Author **

"Teal? No. Yellow. Pink. Pink and teal?"

Keely drew in a long breath, then blew it out in concentration.

"Pink and teal," the voice answered her.

"Pink and teal?" she repeated.

"Pink and teal," he confirmed.

"Sweet." Keely smiled, laying a pink lace trimmed tank top and teal polo shirt out on her bed. "Okay, well, that's my top half. Thanks for your advice, Phil." She giggled. "You're the total package, aren't you? Best friend, amazing boyfriend, and excellent fashion adviser. I am one lucky girl."

Phil's signature chuckle sent her heart aflutter.

"Happy to help as always, Keely-girl. As long as we're advising, though, can I throw something else in?"

"Ooh, jewelry ideas?"

"Well…you know, not really. I was just going to remind you that as attractive as you always look, nobody really notices much about your outfit at five thousand feet in the air."

Keely looked down at all the consideration she'd put into her clothes for the day, and had to laugh at herself.

"Right," she said. "Just a Skyak trip. I should shut up and be excited." She suddenly _was_ very excited, the thought of her head on Phil's shoulder as the cool wind pressed her cheeks, and she became as Jasmine is to Aladdin…

"Don't shut up," Phil told her. "That'd be too …unKeelylike."

"Diffy!" Keely protested, but she was laughing. "Watch yourself."

"You know I meant that in a good way," he assured her. "So, you almost ready?"

"Yep. I'll be over in like five, okay?"

"Awesome. I'll have the Skyak ready."

"Oh, Phil?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna tell me where we're going?"

"Mmmm…" He paused. "Nope. Not really." She could hear the grin in his voice.

"Aww," Keely responded. "You can't see it, Phil, but I'm making 'the face' right now."

He knew exactly which one she meant.

"Yes, I know," he said. "Not only the face, but the eyes, the lips…" He stopped himself. "All right, I'm hanging up before I cave in. You almost got me over the _phone_, Teslow. If that's not pathetic…"

"No. It's not pathetic." Keely held the tank top up to herself, checking it out in the mirror. "I'm just good like that."

"No kidding," Phil laughed.

"Well, I've gotta finish getting ready, and I'll be right over," Keely promised him.

"Gotchya. See ya then, m'lady."

"Can't wait, handsome." She hung up, grinning like a goofy schoolgirl. She loved, loved, loved being able to say that to him!

Quickly, Keely threw on her polo over her pink tank top, adding a pair of white Bermuda shorts. A low side ponytail took care of her hair, and a pearl necklace finished off her outfit. Just as she was slipping into her pink Chuck Taylors, her mom appeared in her bedroom doorway.

"Hey, Poptart," Mandy greeted her daughter. "You look adorable. What do you and Philster have planned for today?"

"Hey, Mom." Keely returned the older, slightly shorter woman's warm smile. "Oh, we're just gonna go get some pretzels and slushies at the mall, and then maybe see a movie, maybe duke it out at air hockey a little in the arcade..." It was all true; she'd just left out the part about soaring above Pickford on a futuristic vehicle. Her mom hadn't exactly been clued in about the whole 22nd century thing at this point.

"Oh, yay!" Mandy responded enthusiastically. She took a step towards Keely, tucking some hair behind her ear gently.

"Yeah…it should be pretty fun. Hanging out with Phil usually is," Keely agreed with a smile. "I haven't won a game of air hockey against him yet, but I'm still holding my ground." She paused a moment. "Is there something you wanted to talk about before I left?" She dabbed on some lipgloss, her pretty eyes focused brightly on her mom.

"Oh," Mandy responded, her cheery expression never ceasing. "Well, I came up just to see how you were and everything, but, I also just remembered that I was going to tell you…" She absently smoothed a hand over the collar of Keely's shirt, straightening it out. "Your dad called last night, when you and Phil were out."

Keely gazed back at her mother. "Oh... really?"

Mandy nodded. "Yeah. About seven o'clock or so."

Keely grabbed her purse off of her dresser, nodding. "Well," she said, dropping her lipgloss inside, "what did he say?"

"Oh, well…" Mandy paused. "He just wondered how you were, and…we just talked about…you know…things." She shrugged. "Just a pretty regular phone conversation, really."

Keely examined her mom's face for an instant, but found nothing but the usual exuberance.

"Oh. Well, how's Arizona?"

Mandy shrugged. "Hot. Dry. I suppose pretty much the same as always."

Keely nodded. "Yeah." She smiled lightly.

There was a moment of silence as Keely fidgeted with her cell phone before dropping it, too, into her purse. Then Mandy spoke up. "Are you late to Phil's, pumpkin?"

Keely nodded. "Well, yeah, I probably should get going," she replied. "Thanks for telling me about Dad's phone call. Does he…want me to call him back?"

"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. If you'd like to, you certainly could," her mom told her. "He did say he'd like to see you sometime."

Keely nodded. "Oh. O-okay. Thanks, Mom." She smiled.

Mandy returned it. The two of them headed down to the front door.

"Well, you can call my cell if you need anything," Keely said. "Like I said, we'll be at Phil's first, then mall. I'll see you later, Mom."

"Bye now, love muffin," she said. "I'll probably be at the office for a little bit this afternoon, but don't hesitate to call me there if you need anything at all. Tell Phil I said hi, and that he's due to come over for dinner anytime soon." She hugged her daughter. "Love you, nugget. Have lots of fun."

"Love you too, Mom," Keely smiled. She waved cheerily as she set off to Phil's.

* * *

"Hold on tight!"

Keely smiled as she wrapped her arms firmly around Phil's waist. The skyak powered up with an immense force, and in a flash of light and sound that made it temporarily impossible to see anything, they were off the ground and high above Phil's neighborhood.

"This thing continues to amaze me," Keely yelled to Phil over the Skyak's smooth roar. "I barely realized it, and now we're, like, four thousand feet off the ground!" She looked around her curiously. "But…wait. How are we not suffocating up here, with the air being so thin?"

Phil explained. "Pressure stabilizer," he told her. "You know how the walls of airplanes are built to keep the pressure even inside? Well, this thing has its own sort of invisible shield that works the same way."

"Ahh," Keely said. "Should have known. I mean, the thing is fast enough to get you halfway around the world in ten minutes."

"Yeah, well, you know, it has to be that fast…in order to get to Hawaii and back in one morning."

"Yeah, I… did you say Hawaii?" Keely exclaimed.

"I said Hawaii," Phil answered with a smile, maneuvering the Skyak's controls.

"Oh my gosh. Phil! We're going to Hawaii?"

"My Wizrd told me it was sunny, clear and eighty seven degrees in Oahu today," Phil answered. "Couldn't pass that one up."

"Oh, wow!" She snuggled tighter against him. "Phil Diffy, this is incredible!" She laughed excitedly. "Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" She breathed in deeply. "Mm…and how good you smell…?"

He smiled, stealing a glance back at her.

"Come here, Teslow," he said to her, and leaned in gently towards her.

Keely flashed her winning smile, then leaned into Phil, closing the distance between their faces with a kiss.

When it was over three or four seconds later, she smiled wider. "Hawaii," she breathed, leaning her head against him.

A short while later, the two of them walked along Hawaii's warm sun soaked North Shore, which hugged the edge of the bluest water Keely had ever seen. Behind them was a long fringe of trees which marked the end of the beach, making them feel as if they were the only two people in the world here. In Hawaii the sun had just risen not long ago, so not many people except a few surfers were out yet.

"Gol-_ly_…" Keely breathed. "Hawaii. It's so…like something on a calendar!" she exclaimed.

Phil smiled at his girlfriend, watching the look of innocent wonder on her face. "Beautiful, huh?" he questioned, not really looking at the scenery at all. _(A/N- "Stuck in the Meddle With You" last scene, anyone?)_

She squeezed his hand. "Yes. Thank you so much for bringing me here, Phil. This is…wow."

"Yeah…it is wow. And it's even better in this century," he told her. "We came here once on a family vacation in 2119—it's a ton cheaper than it is now, with it being so easily accessible—but the islands had gotten so crowded, it was hard to stay." He shrugged. "So instead, my dad decided to take a _time_ trip back to old-fashioned Hawaii in the 1930's. Much more interesting. We had a real hog roast and luau with some of the locals. I'll never forget my dad in a grass skirt, and Pim getting a crab stuck in her hair…" He chuckled to himself.

Keely smiled at the joyful expression on his face. As always, his smile made her smile.

"I'd like to see your dad in a grass skirt," she laughed. She kicked at the soft sand with her toes; she had removed her shoes right away after arriving on the beach and now held them in her free hand. Phil had only been wearing flip-flops, but he had taken them off too.

_Speaking of dad…. _Her mind went back to her mom earlier, and the conversation they'd had.

Keely broke the sweet silence between them, which for a moment had been filled with only the sound of seagulls and gentle waves.

"It was kind of funny," she said. "I was getting ready to leave this morning, and my mom came into my room, and…we talked for a little bit about my plans for today—I only told her the mall part, don't worry—and then, she said my dad called last night."

"He did?" Phil asked. He knew the story of her father without having to ask—how he and Keely's mother were separated, since he had left when Keely was barely six; how he was now living in Tuscon, Arizona, and how Keely had only seen him three times since then, the last time being before she and Phil even met.

Keely nodded.

"Well, is that…bad news?" he asked gently. "I mean, did he say anything, or was it just a random 'what's up' kind of call?"

Keely shrugged. "No, my mom said it wasn't anything bad," she replied. "She said they just talked…about things. But she didn't really tell me what." She paused, kicking at a small shell lying in the sand. "That's kind of it. I wasn't sure if there was something she wasn't telling me, 'cause it seemed like there was. I don't know." She gazed out at the water, watching a windsurfer gliding across the surface.

"Are you worried?" Phil asked her.

She turned her gaze back to her best friend and boyfriend. "I don't know if I am or not. Should I be?"

Just the look of his face calmed her down a bit. "I doubt it, Keel," he told her. "Did your mom seem worried?"

"Well…not really."

Phil lifted their intertwined hands. "Could be nothing, then, Keel," he assured her. "Don't worry. Maybe it was just uninteresting adult stuff that they talked about…" He kissed her knuckles gently, seeing that she still looked contemplative; he kept his eyes on her expression. "You know Keel, even though you look cute with that troubled look on your face, I love it most when you smile."

She looked up at him, and there it was…that beautiful, outstanding, out-of-this-world Phil Diffy grin that promised everything was going to be fine. She was powerless against it.

The corners of her lips turning up, she surrendered her worries. "You got me, future boy," she proclaimed.

Phil beamed. "Yes. Yes, I've got you." He stopped walking, taking Keely's face in his hands. "And I'm the luckiest guy in history."

He pressed his forehead against hers, and clasped both of her hands in his. Suddenly, he chuckled.

"Luckiest guy in _history_…heh…"

Keely rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, how ironic," she mused. "Phil made a funny." She giggled, tracing the collar of his T-shirt. "Now, you kind of looked like you maybe wanted to do something…?" She looked down at the sand, grinning.

Phil pretended to contemplate that one. "Well, I might have been. What were _you_ thinking?"

"I dunno. What were _you_ thinking?"

"I dunno…" Phil smiled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in. He kissed her. The wind ruffled their hair. A seagull called, as if applauding for them.

Just like the first time. Only it kept getting better.

Their lips parted, and Phil smiled right into her eyes. "Now let's go soak up as much sun as we can before Pickford calls us back," he told her, grabbing her hand.

"Oh, and what makes you think I'm ever going back there?" Keely asked him, eyes twinkling. "I could live here forever."

"But I'd miss you."

"Who says you would go back?"

"Keely, Keely, Keely…" Phil shook his head.

"Oh, you just did it, right there. You just triple Keely'd me!"

"Oh, did I?" Phil shrugged, putting on a grin as innocent as the day they'd had the New Ager accident. "Oops." He turned and started off down the beach a few steps.

"Oh, you don't get off that easy, Diffy…" Keely sprinted over and hoisted herself up on his back, much to Phil's surprise. "Ah!" he exclaimed, but didn't protest.

"Oops," she giggled into his ear.

**That was long. Some of you may have been confused about the whole Diffys staying/leaving thing. In this story, yes, they stayed. I haven't given you the full spiel on that yet, but I will. All loose ends at the ends of any chapters will be tied up, don't worry. **

**Anyway, I loveth reviews:)**


	3. Buddy Search

Birds were chirping, sun was shining, the day was bright and new.

With all that acknowledged, Pim Diffy lay her head down on the breakfast table with a thud.

"Morning, sweetie," her mother, Barb, greeted her, setting a pitcher of juice on the table. She eyed her daughter quizzically.

"Oh," Pim mumbled into the tabletop, "is that what you'd call it?"

"Well… yes, that's what _I'd_ call it," Barb said, setting a glass next to the juice for Pim.

"Mmmmmmffff."

"What's going on with you this morning, honey?" Barb asked her. "It's another day of summer vacation. Another day of freedom and possibilities! Aren't you excited?"

Pim finally raised her head from the table, simply for the purpose of giving her mother a look.

"Oh, yes, Mom. So very excited." Her eyes were bright with what you would think was enthusiasm…if you didn't know Pim Diffy for beans. "Excited about another day of watching my replicates have wrestling matches, of playing fetch with Curtis for two straight hours, of watching Hackett water his backyard tomato garden…"

Her mom raised her eyebrows.

"…in his underwear…"

Barb looked weirded out.

"Yeah. So, as for all this freedom and all those possibilities…well, I'm running out." She sighed. "Why does summer vacation have to be so _long_ around here?"

"Hey, now." Barb poured a glass of orange juice for herself. "Watch your complaints about 21st century life, Pim. It's no secret anymore. We know you like it here." She nudged her daughter.

Pim's blue eyed gaze fell onto the table.

"Do I have to remind you how _unenthusiastic_ you were when it came down to going back to 2121, at the end of the last school year?" Mrs. Diffy asked.

"No," Pim answered obediently. "I remember."

Barb smiled, and ruffled her daughter's hair. "And you know, that's _wonderful_, sweetheart. I'm so glad that you ended up finding such good in the 21st century. We all did...we couldn't deny it anymore. That's why we're still here."

"Yeah." Pim poured herself a bowl of cereal. "Speaking of which…Phil and his 21st century 'goodie' had me awake for an hour last night."

"Um…goodie?"

Pim rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile. "Keely."

"Oh." Barb nodded knowingly. She laughed. "Up late talking again, huh?"

"Yes. Probably the reason why the sunshine seemed a thousand times _brighter_ when I got up this morning."

"Well…Pim, you know them," Mrs. Diffy reasoned with her daughter. "They're Phil and Keely. They just never run out of things to talk about. It's kind of what happens when you've fallen that hard for someone." She smiled.

"Mmmhm." Pim poked at her cereal. "As if they ever ran out of things to say before _that_." She paused.

"Oh, wait. There was no _before_. He pretty much had it bad the second she walked by the time machine." She rolled her eyes and exchanged a grin with her mother. "At least it didn't take him forever to do anything about it…" Her words dripped with sarcasm.

"And that was where it all began," Barb recalled. "Two years ago. Now look at them. Peas in a pod. Where there's Phil, there's Keely…"

Pim smirked. "Well," she concluded. "At least since they've got each other, their summer has been productive." She stood up to place her bowl in the sink. As she did so, she came to a sudden realization. "Hmm. That could be my problem."

"What do you mean, honey?"

"Well," Pim shrugged, trying to find the right words. "It gets old after awhile, you know, just coming up with my _own_ stuff. Future technology on its own can't keep a girl entertained forever. For pretty darn close to forever, maybe, but not _actually_ forever." She drummed her fingers on the countertop boredly. "It helps to, you know, have more people around to take care of some of the entertainment for you. Like at school. But during summer vacation…it's different. People without all this junk to play around with—they actually…go places."

"Are you saying," Barb began, "that you'd like to find the kind of …'friend'…that Phil has in Keely…?"

Pim raised her eyebrows. "You mean, 'friend'?" She put air quotes around the word.

Her mother looked curious.

"I don't think so!" Pim exclaimed. "I mean…I don't know." She shook her head. "Whatever. I'm just talking about regular friends here, Mom."

"Oh…" Barb nodded. "Well, then, you mean just someone to hang out with?"

"Well…" Pim gazed around the kitchen, stalling. "Yeah. Pretty much." She leaned against the counter, folding her arms. "Someone who shares my interests, someone who wouldn't have me, you know, ripping hair out of my head after five minutes…" She faked a cough, slipping "Berwick" into the middle of it.

Barb didn't seem to notice. "Well, then. Your old mom could probably help you with that one. What about your Danny friend? He's a sweet kid."

"Dawkins," Pim muttered, sighing. "Yeah, forgot about him. Maybe because he decided to _bail_ on me for a month and just take off to Seattle with his family for some summer thingy. Why Seattle?" She threw her hands in the air.

Realizing that she was getting melodramatic over Danny Dawkins, she quickly folded them again.

"Besides, um…he's a little _too_ friendly," she added quickly. "Anyway, he's out of the picture for now."

"Well…there's always someone else," Barb said. "Hey! You never hear from Debbie anymore. Why not?"

Pim's eyes narrowed. "You haven't heard?"

"Um…no. Heard what?"

"Well, then. I'll try to limit my discussion of Berwick to twenty words or less." Pim took a breath. "Basically, she was moved to New Mexico. Which means not Pickford. Which means, the end!" With an ear to ear grin, Pim broke out into a happy dance, finishing off with a curtsy, which was all met with a shaking of the head.

"That's a shame. Debbie really is a nice little girl. A _nice girl_." Barb shot Pim a look that reminded her there was no use in arguing with that.

"But you know, Pim, you're right," she agreed. "Some new close buddies to hang out with during the summer would be really nice for you."

Pim shrugged. "Anything to get me through the last month of vacation without having to chuck a tennis ball six thousand, four hundred more times for Caveboy's enjoyment…."

The back door opened suddenly, and Lloyd Diffy entered the kitchen speedily.

"Do we have duct tape?" he asked breathlessly.

"Why duct tape, sweetie?" Barb asked, exchanging glances with Pim as they cleared the table.

"Well…" Lloyd shot an uneasy glance out to the backyard. "Curtis got ahold of the hose while I was watering stuff. I got tangled up in it while I was unraveling it, and he thought it was attacking me…" Lloyd shrugged. "Now, it's kinda…hole-y."

Pim laughed to herself.

"Well, are you sure duct tape would help?" Barb asked. "Can't you use something more _advanced_ to patch it up?"

"I would, but…Hackett's out back watering his tomato garden."

Pim and Barb looked at each other, unsure of whether to laugh or shudder.

"So…any tape? 'Cause the sucker's spraying so much water now, my plants…or possibly Curtis…might drown pretty soon."

"Ooh!" Pim spoke up enthusiastically. "I've got some."

She left the kitchen swiftly.

"Honey, you should probably turn the hose _off_ if you don't want anything to drown out there," Barb advised her husband.

Lloyd, who had poured himself a glass of orange juice, looked out at the backyard sheepishly.

"Uh…I'll be back." He dashed outside.

* * *

**So yeah, t****hat was just some Pim plot for you...and some nice random crazy Diffyness. **

**Pim's in need of a new buddy ol' pal to hang out with this summer…Now who could that buddy be?**

**Hmmm…**

**And yes, Pheely fans, next chapter is Phil and Keely again. I just didn't wanna make this chapter really really long by putting their part in too. This story is about the whole crew together. Gotta include everyone. )**


	4. Where the Heart Is

**WARNING. This chapter has spoilers from the 2nd season finale in it, so if you haven't seen that yet, don't read this yet either. **

**I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. Actually, I'm not, because it isn't really my fault. has been really weird and wouldn't work when I was repeatedly trying to upload this chapter. **

**I'm loving your reviews! I'm so glad you guys like my idea of season 3 so far. It's not even all the way unfolded yet though. If you keep reading, though… So, thank you, all of you, every one of ya **

**Yay…new episode Broadcast Blues premiered tonight, and it rocked, a lot. It was just funny! Doesn't it seem like POTF just keeps getting better as it goes? And to think they want to cancel it NOW! Sheesh. It's like shutting off a movie right as it's getting to the good part. **

**Speaking of which – for anyone who wants to help with the Save Phil thing, just so you know, starting today, March 24th, through March 28th is a "Save Phil-a-thon"…basically, you just go crazier than usual with letters, e-mails, phone calls, faxes or whatever you can manage. Hope you can help. ) there's more info at the Save Disney Shows webpage, which I gave the link to at the beginning of the second chapter. **

**Anyway…enjoy this! )**

**_Chapter 4: That'd Be Funny, Though, Wouldn't It?_**

"So, what to watch?" Keely asked. She sifted through a basket of DVDs in her living room, sitting crosslegged on the floor. Phil sat comfortably behind her in a chair.

The sun was setting over Pickford, bringing the day they'd spent together to a close. After soaring to Hawaii and back, returning the Wizrd to Phil's, getting a lift to the mall with Barbara, spending an afternoon schlepping around and seeing a ridiculous romantic comedy which they both had to cover their mouths to crack up at, playing a few rounds of air hockey and spending a few dollars on photo booth pictures, they had headed back to Keely's house for the evening.

Now, they were preparing for a classic Phil and Keely movie and takeout night—they usually alternated houses, and tonight it was Keely's turn to host it.

"We have all of these," Keely continued, motioning to the DVD basket, "and then there's some more upstairs in mine and my mom's rooms. Do you have any ideas?"

Phil wasn't responding.

"Phil?"

She twisted around to look at him curiously. His eyes were glued to the TV screen. "What are you…?" she wondered, turning back around to look at the television, wondering what could have him so enthralled.

Channel surfing, he had settled on the Discovery Channel—a special about new advances in science, and the affects they could have on society in the next hundred years. (A/N- Psh, I don't know.) Keely listened for a moment. Currently, an old, bored-looking scientist was discussing the possibility of time travel using black holes, and talking about his vision of a time machine, "if such a thing were to be constructed".

She heard Phil snort loudly.

Keely rolled her eyes, smiling. "I know what you're thinking, buddy," she told him.

She'd been right. He laughed aloud.

She turned around to find him shaking his head.

"Sorry, Keel." He laughed again. "You know, 'if such a thing were to be constructed'…" He lowered his voice a few octaves and added a fake German accent.

"We _get it_, Phil. We're primitive, uncivilized and completely idiotic around here. It's just how we do things." She grinned, shrugging.

Phil smiled. "Well, someday, _if time travel is made possible_…" he continued in the same cheesy accent, climbing off the chair and lowering himself to the floor, where he wrapped his arms around an unsuspecting Keely. "Maybe then," he said quietly, dropping the accent, "a boy will travel back in time, his time machine will break down, and he and his family will have no choice but to stay in that century…where he'll meet the most amazing girl he's ever known." He hugged her tighter. "Just a theory," he whispered into her hair. "That'd be funny, though, wouldn't it?"

Keely smiled widely. She felt herself melting. DVDs forgotten, she leaned back onto Phil.

"Yeah. It'd be _really_ funny." She grabbed Phil's hands, gently stroking them, then just holding them, intertwining their fingers. "Phil, Phil, Phil of the future…" she whispered contently.

This is where Mandy found the two of them as she entered the room a moment later, having just arrived home from the office. Preparing to say something, she quickly stopped herself, simply smiling.

After a short moment of watching them hold each other in sweet silence, she cleared her throat. "I don't mean to interrupt," she giggled, "but are you two getting hungry?"

Both heads snapped around, just out of surprise at the sudden voice. "Oh," Keely said, glancing at Phil. "Hey, Mom! Well… I am. Are you, Phil?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think the pretzels and popcorn are well and digested by now," he grinned.

"Well, good. Because I was just going to call the pizza place—it's your movie night tonight, isn't it? What's a movie night without the pizza?" Mandy inquired cheerfully, hanging up her jacket.

"Not much," Keely agreed, as she and Phil stood up. Obviously reluctant, she let go of his hand.

"Jellybean," Mandy said to her daughter, "I have some coupons in the kitchen. Come look really quick."

"Oh, okay." Keely flashed Phil a smile. "Let me know which movie looks good to you, okay?" She left the room with her mother.

Once they were in the kitchen, Mandy crossed the room to the counter. She turned on the sink faucet; she turned it off. She wiped down a section of counter with a dishrag, then placed it aside.

"Um, Mom?" Keely asked. "Coupons?"

"Oh!" Mandy laughed. "Yes, yes, they're, um, oh, my goodness, where did I put them?" She opened and closed random drawers, searched through a pile of mail on the counter. "Oh, I'll tell you something, sweet tart, I'm losing my mind…" She winked at her daughter.

Keely laughed half-heartedly. It hadn't taken her long to notice that her mom was acting a little more…sporadic than usual. And Mandy Teslow was usually sporadic as it was.

"Mom, are you okay?" Keely asked finally, tugging absently on her ponytail.

Mandy turned to face her daughter. She smiled brightly, wringing her hands together. "I'm fine, tater tot," she answered. "I'm sorry…I'm probably worrying you with all this...running around."

"Well…maybe a little," Keely answered. "Is something bothering you?"

"Oh. Well…well, no." Mandy sighed. "Well, it's nothing to worry about. I just didn't want to interrupt your movie night." She patted Keely's arm. "We'll talk later, love muffin. Okay?"

"Later?" Keely said. "Mom, what do you mean?" Her brow knit together, and worry was evident in her jade eyes.

Mandy sensed it. She smiled brightly, tapping Keely's nose with her finger. "Don't worry, sweetheart," she said. "You don't want wrinkles on that beautiful face yet." She suddenly caught sight of something on the counter behind Keely. "Oh! Look here. Pizza coupons. We'd better hurry up and order, hadn't we? We've got two teenagers to feed."

……………….

Keely grabbed a slice of pepperoni and dug in. "This right here will be my limit," she announced to Phil, through a half-mouthful.

Phil popped the last bite of his pizza into his mouth. "Not mine," he told her, reaching for another.

She slapped his stomach lightly with the back of her hand. "Better watch that figure, Diffy," she warned, smiling.

"Better watch the movie, Teslow." He nodded to the screen, grabbing his soda and taking a few gulps.

"Oh, I am." Keely shrugged. "Just not really understanding it."

On the screen in front of them, a dismal, dramatic scene of New York City halfway underwater played out. _The Day After Tomorrow_ had been Phil's idea to watch—mostly because it was a 21st century science fiction and he enjoyed watching those with his 22nd century point of view. That was one of the only things, besides his high-tech gadgets, that still reminded Keely he was actually from a whole different time; he had adapted to the century so well in every other way that it fit him like a glove.

Phil attempted to understand all the movie's details with not much more luck than his girlfriend.

Keely sighed, leaning back with her hands folded across her stomach. "I'm actually tired," she told him.

"So soon?" Phil joked. "Gee, why's that? We only spent about five hours on our feet today."

As he spoke, Keely had snuggled up to him, her head finding a spot perfectly fit for itself on his shoulder. Just like the best friends they had always been, and just like the couple they were now. Either way, each one had found themselves the other half of a perfect pair.

"They were a great five hours," she told him.

"Five hours of trimming grass with scissors would be fun with you, Keel," Phil assured her matter-of-factly.

"Aw…that's good to know." Keely's smile was evident in her voice. "I can't believe you took me to _Hawaii_, Phil. You are incredible. Wow." She looked up at him, then kissed his cheek gently. She lay her head back down. "Is there, like, anything I could ever do to thank you for being so—"

"Anythingyou could _do_?" Phil interrupted, bewildered. "Oh, well, Keely…I don't know. How about...be the one who's kept my family's secret for almost three years? Or the one person I can give credit to for helping me fit in here? Or the one who's been there with me through, like, everything?"

Keely lay quietly, smiling. Still, something odd stung inside her.

"You're my_ best_ friend, Keel. I mean that when I say it."

Tears.

"So, you've done everything you ever could. Don't worry about it, partner."

She swallowed against the warm lump in her throat. Apparently, Phil could make her so insanely happy that she _cried._ In a way…she liked that.

"You in there, Teslow?" he teased, smoothing some hair away from her face.

She just hugged him tighter and buried her face in his T-shirt. He smelled very much like...Phil. Like cologne, fresh air, and his house; it always had some kind of cinnamon-y and sweet scent to her, more than likely from all of Barb's specialty spray can brownies and cakes. (Literally, "specialty"—because Keely didn't know anyone else who sprayed desserts out of cans.) All of it combined to form one of the most comforting and familiar smells she knew—aside from her favorite shampoo and the teddy bear she'd had since she was two.

"Phil," she whispered, "I am so glad you didn't go." The movie had reached a more dramatic point, and the music flowing from the TV speakers built up to it. Neither Phil nor Keely noticed it much.

He was quiet for a second.

For the first time, he felt tears penetrating his shirt. He stroked Keely's hair, trying to get her to look at him, but her face was still half buried in the red material.

Both minds began to wander…

_Her eyes were as desperate as he'd ever seen them; even more devastated than when she'd seen her future supposedly ruined on the Giggle, even more fearful than when she'd sang solo in front of an audience at H.G. Wells' talent show, before she knew how good she was at it. She looked hurt and vulnerable, like a little girl lost in a department store._

_Maybe that's what killed him the most._

"_I don't know how else to say it." Her voice was nothing more than a shaky breath. "Please don't go. Not now, Phil…"_

_He didn't know what to say. He despised that feeling._

"_Keely," he whispered. His hands trembled as he held hers. His mouth felt completely drained of moisture, so his voice didn't amount to much either. "I…I wish you could understand." He was having trouble looking at her. "I wish _I_ could understand…" _

_She inhaled and exhaled sharply. "Well," she answered quietly, "I wish I could, too. I don't, Phil. I—I can't. I don't think I ever will." _

_They sat in the quiet confines of the Diffy living room, together on the couch. It was almost funny, how utterly normal it all seemed. Outside it was late afternoon; kids had come home from school and settled into their evening routines, as Phil and Keely usually did every day. Yet, nothing was ordinary. It was all coming down to now. The decision had been made once—they were leaving, going back to 2121, completely unsure if they'd ever be able to return to the place they'd called home in 21st century Pickford. But their final goodbyes had proved not so final, when they'd had to turn around halfway through their journey back…to retrieve a little something they'd forgotten; an extra in the Diffy family, one with wild hair, animal skins for clothing, and poor table manners. _

_Now that they were back, things had only gotten more difficult._

_They'd been given a few minutes. A few minutes alone, just to talk, because Phil's parents had seen the pain in their son's eyes and the eyes of his best friend when they had announced that it was "probably time to get going again". _

_Especially since Keely had taken it upon herself to come to their house in the first place, after spotting their "RV" outside when she thought it should be gone, to give one last pathetic attempt at keeping the boy she loved close to her. She had just been taking a walk; a walk to try to calm herself down, or something like it. She wasn't really sure, but something made her do it. She had felt so lonely after Phil had left school that morning, after the infamous broadcast that H.G. Wells would never forget, featuring a stunning kiss between their "cutest couple". Even surrounded by everyone she knew in the hallways, even when her mother came to pick her up and take her home after she pleaded "not feeling well" to the school nurse, she felt so homesick...for what, she didn't know. Perhaps a walk around Pickford's neighborhoods, being surrounded by everything she associated with "home," would help her somewhat. _

_Then she happened upon_ his_ house. _

_It wasn't like she'd done it on accident; it was just that the last time she'd seen it, it had a family inside, it had life and vibrancy and a "welcome, come on in" aura about it. She had to see it now, maybe just to confirm it, even as much as it scared her, to make sure it was true: that the Diffys were gone._

_Or…not._

_Now Phil held both her hands in his, gazing at them intensely. _

"_Keely," he said finally, "when we first got here, and stepped out of our time machine into 2003, you walked by us, after you found that coin…remember when I told you that story?"_

_Keely was confused, but enthralled. She nodded silently._

"_Yeah, well…I _did_ see you. Not just kind of. Believe me, I saw. And I took one look at you and decided that you were beautiful. Completely and entirely beautiful. I didn't know your name or who you were or anything, but I knew that much. I just want you to know that." He squeezed her hands tighter._

_There was silence on Keely's part. _

_Then, he heard her inhale. He looked up at her._

_She was looking back at him, and for a moment, she looked utterly at peace. Her face was like the smooth ivory carving of a goddess, an ageless beauty locked in time. It reminded him of how she had looked that night at the dance, as she realized the importance of timing, and sharing it with the people who mean most to you. He had told himself then that he would never forget how she looked, and he knew he wouldn't forget it now, either. The only thing that disturbed her serene beauty was the slightest trail of a tear, escaping down her cheek. Even then, it did nothing to take away from her splendor. _

_He felt like she'd cast a spell on him, and he was at loss for words. Luckily, he didn't need any then._

_Keely nodded gently, and leaned in towards him. Placing a hand, warmed by Phil's grip, against his face, she kissed his forehead._

_This is when he broke._

_Inside him, it all bubbled up, and was no longer under his control. He felt the wetness on his cheeks before he realized that he, too, had shed some tears. Just like that, out of the blue. _

_Keely pulled away then, but left her hand on his face. She just gazed at him, like she were seeing his soul. Still she looked miserable._

"_You're crying," she observed. She wiped away a tear with her thumb. _

_He just shrugged, his eyes cast downward. "Yeah, well…" _

"_Yeah." Keely just nodded. She traced the edges of his face with her finger, stopping underneath his chin. She raised it gently, so he was looking at her again. Then she dropped her hand to his strong shoulder, holding onto it. Her eyes were locked with his, and then she fell forward gently and leaned against him, her face hidden in the plaid pattern of his shirt. _

_He heard her whisper something._

"_What, Keel?"_

_She turned her head just slightly, so the words could come more clearly._

"_This can't be it," she said._

_As he held her to him, a sudden figure in the doorway distracted him for a moment. He looked up to see who it was._

"_Phil," Pim said quietly, "Mom and Dad want you."_

_Phil gazed back at his young blonde sister, and saw something very different about her. All of her cynical, self-assured personality seemed to have abandoned her. She looked…unsure. Afraid. Her innocent blue eyes actually _were_ innocent now._

_After taking all this in, Phil could do nothing but nod._

_Keely sat up, looking first at Pim, then at Phil. Pim just sighed quietly. "Sorry," she whispered, sincerely, before leaving the room._

_Phil pushed some of Keely's soft hair away from her face. "Well…"_

"_Well." Her response was one syllable, one sentence, period. Nothing more to be said._

_Phil made sure their hands were secured together, and then he stood up. Keely shakily rose with him. _

_In the dining room, Phil, to his surprise, found his parents simply sitting at the table, the one that had braved so many of Barb's attempts at home cooking during the past few years. Pim was leaning against the counter, her expression unreadable. Curtis was next to her, extremely fascinated by a strand of her hair, curious and childlike as usual. He was the happiest part of the atmosphere right then. She flicked his hand away once, but when he persisted in playing with her blonde locks, she gave up._

"_Phil," Barb said, daring to speak first, "honey…" With Keely there, she was unsure of what to say. She herself felt a strong tug at her heartstrings, almost too strong to conceal._

"_I can go," Keely volunteered quickly. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Without thinking, she turned to leave._

"_No, Keel." Phil didn't release her hand. She stopped, looking back at him, then at his family. "Please don't," he pleaded with her softly._

_She swallowed hard. Now _he_ was begging _her_ to stay? This day couldn't get much weirder._

_She stayed in place, her gaze falling onto the floor._

"_Phil…kids…" Lloyd was the next to take a stab at it. "We, your mom and I, know that this is…this is rough."_

_Nobody spoke._

"_We've really settled in here," he continued. "Even you." He reached out and took his daughter's arm gently. Pim actually cracked a small smile. _

"_Your dad and I even love it here," Barb said. "You know we do. I love doing things for myself, like cooking and laundry. It's a much better use of time." _

"_And, well…" Lloyd shrugged, looking uneasy for a moment. "You all found me out, so I'll just admit…I could have easily fixed the time engine much sooner than I did."_

_Keely raised her eyebrows. "Are you serious?" she asked softly._

_Phil nodded; he couldn't help but smile. _

"_Whoa," Keely said. "So, you're saying…?"_

"_Yes, he pretty much puttered around for a year and a half, when we could have all been long gone," Pim spoke up, surprising everyone. Her words weren't bitter though, as they would have expected. She was smiling, just a little._

"_But, besides that," Lloyd continued sheepishly, "we know it's a great century, and a great place to live. But now…"_

_Phil looked expectantly at his parents. Finally, Barb sighed, standing up. _

"_Sweetheart, now that the time machine is truly, for sure fixed, we just feel like…we need to make use of that," Barb said. "We do, really, have a whole other time waiting for us…"_

_Phil just gazed right past her._

"_Honey?" Barb asked._

"_I don't know, Mom," he answered finally. He looked over at his girlfriend, his best friend. "I'm not so sure I could do it." His words came out coolly, in kind of a simple and relaxed manner. They were concluding and absolutely positive. He shrugged, as if it were that simple. He was trying really hard to keep it together._

_Keely stared back at Phil, her expression forlorn, but hopeful at the same time._

_Barb didn't know what else to say._

_Lloyd stood up. "I'm so sorry, buddy," he said. "Really, I am." He looked sadly from his son to Keely._

_She knew that everyone felt like they were tiptoeing on eggshells because of her presence. They knew what Phil meant to her and the other way around, and they were having a hard time choosing the right words because of it. _

"_I understand everything that you guys are saying," she told them. Everyone seemed surprised by the sudden sound of her voice, but they listened. "I really do. Everyone has somewhere they're from, and in the end, home is home." She couldn't even believe she was saying all this. Phil looked puzzled. Still, she continued._

"_But…if it means anything coming from me, I think you guys fit in fine here. I mean…you're like my second family. If you think I helped you out, well, you've helped me so much, too. You make me feel a thousand times more than welcome every time I'm here." She took a breath. "I…I know I'll meet a million other people in my lifetime. I just don't think I'll ever meet anyone as wonderfully weird and…and as incredible as the Diffys …" She sighed. There was no beating around the bush here. _

"_I'm just going to say it. I would miss all of you more than you know if you left. Whether that makes a different or not, I would." She held one arm timidly across her stomach._

_Don't cry, Keely. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry…_

_She bit her lip fiercely._

"_Oh, Keely, sweetie…" Barb began._

_Keely cried._

_She turned away quickly, feeling like a total baby. Great, she thought. Now they'll think I'm just putting on a sob show for them… _

_But two strong arms were holding her now, and any of her fears were forgotten. _

_She just let go._

"_Phil, I'm sorry," she whispered._

_His face was buried in her hair. "Don't be," he whispered back. She felt his warm breath against her neck._

_She could hear in his voice that he was crying now, too._

_Over Keely's shoulder, he looked at his mother. Pain was written all over his face. As Barb saw him cry, she nearly did the same._

_She looked over at her husband. He just looked down at the table. Pim looked upset._

_Barb approached them, rubbing each of their shoulders gently in an attempt to provide some comfort. She locked tearful eyes with her son, examining all of their contents. What she found was exactly what she'd predicted all along. _

_Leaving this behind would be the hardest thing Phil would ever have to do. _

"_We can't make you do this, can we, sweetheart?" she whispered to him gently._

_Phil's response was only in his gaze, and how he held Keely closer against him._

_Barb closed her eyes in defeat. _

_When she opened them, she looked around the cheerful, comfortable room, and realized how she felt right then._

_Completely and utterly at home._

_She imagined a far-off place, a house that was now so unfamiliar in their memories that it seemed colorless and bland. What in the world would it be like to be back there?_

"_Keely," Phil whispered to her. "Listen to me, okay?"_

"_Mhm…" She sniffed._

"_Look." He gently pulled away from her, keeping only a couple of inches between their faces. He tucked some of her hair behind her ear. _

_Keely had never seen him look so serious, so sincere, so rawand truthful. His eyes were beautifully pained._"_I love you," he whispered. A tear stuck to the edge of his lip._"_You know that? I do, Keel, no matter what happens today."_

_Keely just stared back, transfixed. She looked awestruck, and completely mesmerized. She felt...undescribable._

_"Phil," she choked, one hand on his cheek. He held his over top of it. "I love you too, partner." She smiled as a fresh wave of tears rolled down. "And you don't know how good it feels to hear that..."_

_Everyone heard them whisper, but Barb was the only one who made out the words. She held a hand over her mouth, so happy for her son and the girl he loved, but so saddened for them all the same, that she had to battle tears._

_She looked over at her husband, her eyes pleading with him. _

_Pim looked at both of them expectantly._

_Lloyd took in a long breath. He looked tired, drained. Barb moved closer to him, placing a hand on top of his._

_Each second seemed like an hour, but finally, he slowly nodded. He took both his wife's and his daughter's hands._

"_So," he concluded, "it's done."_

_It caught the attention of a sniffling Keely, her round, beautiful face looking more childlike than ever as it was stained in red and tears. Then, Phil looked over at his father as well._

"_What?" he asked._

_Lloyd looked at his wife, then at his daughter, then at his son._

"_Keely's right," he told them. "Home is home." He gestured with his hands around the Diffy kitchen._

_Understanding crept over Phil's face, as it slowly broke out into the most grateful smile anyone had ever seen. Keely was a step behind in catching on._

"_Do you…do you mean…" Her eyes darted from Phil to his parents. _

_Lloyd just nodded and smiled. "Yep." Then he stood up swiftly and announced, "Let's unload that RV."_

_Keely was in shock. She thought that's what it might have been, because she wasn't screaming or jumping for joy. She was just frozen, like she weren't sure if it could really be true._

_Then she looked at Phil._

"_Keel," he said softly, "did you hear that?"_

"_Hear…hear your dad?"_

"_Mhm." Phil nodded, grabbing her hands._

"_Hear what he said?"_

"_Yes." Phil moved closer towards her._

_Keely gazed into his gorgeous face. "Yes…yes. I think so." She nodded harder, everything sinking in. "I heard. You're…you're all…I mean, you're not…" _

_Phil broke out into an enormous grin. His eyes glistened with leftover tears. _

_Keely tried to catch her breath._

"_Golly…"_

_And she threw her arms around his neck again, holding him so tightly. He didn't mind that he almost couldn't breathe._

"_I knew it, Phil," she told him, nearly sobbing again…this time, it went hand in hand with a completely different emotion. "I knew this couldn't be it."_

_He took her face in his hands. "Same here." _

_Then, he kissed her._

_It lasted just as long as their first…maybe longer. Who was counting, really? _

_When they finished, they just held each other._

_And then a new set of arms was wrapped around them both, followed by another, and another. Barb, Lloyd, and Pim couldn't resist contributing to a group hug._

"_Wow," Pim proclaimed. "How'd it feel to _finally_ get _that_ one out, bro?" She chuckled. "Unless it's not the first time…"_

_Barb nudged her daughter. Phil looked at Keely, and Keely looked at Phil. They couldn't do anything but smile. _

_Keely leaned her head securely against him, smiling at all four of the Diffys._

"_I love you guys," she proclaimed. "I really do."_

_Barb smiled at her, pushing a strand of blonde hair out of her damp eye. "Keely," she said, "it's hard to imagine life without you, sweetheart." _

_Keely choked back another sob. She still managed to smile. "Thank you..."_

_From right behind the group came another voice._

"_Curtis see how it is. Everyone hug, but not caveman?"_

_Pim split from the group temporarily. "Get on in here, bonehead," she told him, pulling him in. "Just, uh…not too incredibly close. There's the odor factor we need to consider…"_

"And that was that." Phil concluded, running his fingers through Keely's hair.

She was quiet. He smiled down at her still figure.

"I'll tell you one thing; I can't remember the last time I cried that much," he recalled, pensively, gently tracing a pattern onto Keely's temple.

He continued. "You know, Keely…I'm starting to think my dad was never going to make us leave in the first place." He paused, chuckling. "I know it sounds weird, but…wow. They all really wanted to stay that badly. Maybe they just wanted to see us hug and bawl our eyes out over each other, just to prove that I like you as I much as I do…apparently, I was fairly obvious about it. What do _you_ think…?"

She still wasn't responding.

"Keel?" he whispered.

A good look down at her face confirmed it. She was fast asleep.

Phil smiled warmly at her.

"Well, then," he whispered. "Goodnight, Keely."

He checked his watch; it was already nine. The movie's ending scenes were still playing out, but the movie itself had obviously been forgotten.

He didn't dare reach for the remote and disturb the gorgeous serenity that was Keely. Instead, he just took in her tranquil features. Was this kind of beauty even possible? Furthermore, was it possible that _he_ had found it for himself?

"Oh, yeah, and Keel," he whispered, "I love you. You know that, right?"

Several minutes later, Mandy found them again. Phil's head rested gently atop her daughter's, and his arm linked around hers, his hand coming to rest gently on her waist. Both faces were illuminated by the TV screen, and both of them were relaxed and still, put to rest by the adventures of the day.

It was perfection, and Ms. Teslow couldn't bring herself to disturb it.

Instead, she took a blanket off the back of a chair, and draped it gently across their sleeping figures.

"Aww," she whispered to herself, just watching them for a moment. Her daughter was as happy as ever when she was with this boy, even in sleep.

And yet, all things considered, Mandy remembered what she had yet to share with Keely.

She could rest assured tonight that her jellybean was happy, but she couldn't predict how she would react tomorrow.

**So! That is what happened with the Diffys, the day they decided to stay. **

**(In my story, at least.) **

**And it keeps going…**

_I love your reviews times **a trillion!** 3_


	5. It's All Relative

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**This is for each of you…enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: It's All Relative**

"Miss Teslow, now is not the time for laughter. Do I appear _comical_ to you, simply something to be entertained by?"

Mr. Messerschmidt's voice growled menacingly, as Keely sat hiding her face in her hands, her shoulder shaking with laughter at the scene before her.

"Much like the poor, sad soul who sits near the entrance of a carnival," Messerschmidt continued, "wearing a lopsided bowtie and cheap toupee, attempting to astound the young ones who pass him by with his dancing expertise and poorly constructed balloon creatures, from monkeys to dogs to chinchillas, oh my!—all the while not realizing that they are not laughing so joyously _with_ him, but rather _at_ him…" He stroked at his moustache. Keely doubled over, officially not able to breathe anymore, she was laughing so hard.

"Am I nothing more than a poor, sad, balloon-animal-constructing clown, Keely?"

She looked up at him, finally catching her breath for an instant.

"Sorry, _Messerschmidt_," she gasped between giggles. "Never meant to make you think you were a sad, poor, animal-balloon…whatever." She wiped at her eyes, which actually had tears forming in them. "Just so you know, though…Messerschmidt, like, never calls me Keely." She grinned.

"Oh. Right." The weird accent was abruptly gone. The tall figure leaned down and picked up a Wizrd from the coffee table in front of him.

"That was certainly fun…shall I make up another metaphor to describe it?" asked "Messerschmidt".

"No, Phil," Keely answered, giggling. "That's definitely okay. If you wouldn't mind, could you change yourself back quickly, because the idea of Messerschmidt in your living room during summer vacation is starting to creep me out…a lot."

"Yeah," he laughed, quickly programming the Wizrd to transform from Mr. Messerschmidt back to Phil. "It was fun at first, but now it's getting kind of frightening." Keely nearly shuddered at how bizarre it looked, Phil's casual dialogue coming out of their strange, uptight teacher's mouth. He pointed the Wizrd at himself…well, kind of self.

"Hey, Phil—AHHHHH! WHAT THE HECK?"

Keely and Phil/Messerschmidt jumped at the sound, both spinning around to face a horrified Pim, who had just entered the living room.

Keely bit back a new round of giggles. She looked over at Phil, who just exchanged a sly smile with her.

"Ah, Miss Diffy," he said, sporting the weird accent once more. "What a delight to run into you during your summer vacation, when you aren't supposed to have any interaction with any of your teachers or anything school-related at all." He flashed a devious smile.

Pim looked frozen with alarm. "Uhhh…" She looked over at Keely, her wide azure eyes searching for an answer. Keely just shrugged.

"What…?" Pim began.

"Mr. Messerschmidt" just grinned, pulling an arm out from behind his back, in which he held a Wizrd. In one swift movement he aimed it at himself, and in a flash of light, he was six inches shorter and Phil.

"I rather enjoyed that, Miss Diffy," he remarked to his sister.

Pim exhaled loudly, holding a hand to her chest. "Whoa, Phil," she said, relieved but stunned. "Do…not…_ever_…do that to me…again. Thanks. I'd appreciate it."

Keely giggled. "Pim, that look on your face was classic. Come on…you know it was hilarious." She winked.

"Yeah, maybe for the blonde little ray of sunshine who got to be a bystander to all of this, while her cutie patootie scared the crumbs out of his sister, but not for the _sister."_ Pim shuddered. Keely just laughed and leaned back on the couch. "Anyway, Phil," Pim continued. "I was going to ask you if I could use that Wizrd, because—"

"Wait, what happened to yours?"

"Uhhhh…" Pim looked at the floor, folding her hands in front of her. She smiled stiffly at her brother. "Remember that conversation we had about report cards and whatnot?"

"Oh, the one at three a.m.?" Keely cut in.

"Yes, that would be the one," Pim answered. "Yeah, well, um…remember also how _Hackett_ actually lives next door to us?"

Phil just raised an eyebrow.

"It has a little something to do with all of that. Boy, does word get around these days—know what I mean, Slappy?" She laughed, obviously uncomfortable with the subject matter. She cleared her throat. "_Anyway_, can I? I'm just going to make a replicate of myself to play fetch with Curtis, so I won't have to. I have other plans."

Phil just shrugged. "Wouldn't want Pim to miss out on 'other plans'," he remarked. He handed it over. "What 'other plans'?"

"Oh…stuff and things. Maybe some more stuff. If I'm up to it after that, some more things." She shrugged, ignoring the looks she was getting from her brother and Keely. "Don't _you_ guys have anything on the lovely little agenda today?"

"Yeah…" Phil nodded. "I think. Do we, Keel?" He dropped down next to her on the couch.

"Well," she said, "yeah. I mean, I do. You don't have to come, but I told my mom I'd be back sometime soon after we went out to breakfast this morning, because…she wanted to talk." She shrugged, looking down at her hands.

The night before, Phil and Keely had both fallen asleep in her living room during the movie. At around eleven, Mandy had to wake them up, and not wanting to disturb his parents so late with calling to ask if he could stay over at the Teslows', he went home. The next morning, he had picked Keely up and taken her out to breakfast, and afterwards, they hung out at the Diffy residence for awhile…not doing much besides playing with Phil's Wizrd. Ah, the joys of having futuristic best friends. **_(A/N- But this doesn't mean they aren't a couple, don't worry. They're still best friends too.)_**

"Oh…right." Phil, concerned for Keely, tapped her nose lightheartedly. "So solemn all the sudden," he remarked.

She cracked a smile. "I'm fine," she assured him, tapping his nose back.

"Oh, what's that, Mom?" Pim said suddenly. "Yeah, I'm coming. It's a good thing you called at this particular moment, because I think I was just about to witness some PDA." She smiled politely at Phil and Keely, waving cheerily before making an exit. "Oh, and thanks for the Wizrd," she called back over her shoulder.

Phil rolled his eyes. "Mom's at the _grocery store_," he said, for just himself and Keely to hear, when she was gone.

Keely chuckled. "Oh well," she said. "I think she was just about to witness some PDA, anyway." She leaned over and gave Phil a peck on the lips. She grinned, then stood up.

"PDA is nice," Phil said innocently, his chocolate eyes wide and childlike.

Keely just smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. "It can be," she agreed jokingly, "but I'd better get going. It's almost 12:30. I think my mom has to go to the office in about an hour…and she wanted to talk before she left."

"Right." Phil nodded. He looked into her eyes, searching them. "Do you need me to go with, or…?"

Keely considered it for a moment, playing with his shirt collar. She smiled. "I'm okay," she told him finally. "I'll call you later, though. All right?"

Phil nodded. "All right." He kept his eyes on hers.

She nodded. "Cool." She took a deep breath, looking towards the front door as if she knew she should go to it, but she didn't move.

Phil held out an arm. "Walk you to the door?" he offered cheerfully.

Keely sighed, beaming. "You're awesome, Phil. Thanks." She slipped her hand through his arm, and together, they walked the six feet to the door.

"That was nice," Keely told him.

"No problem at all," Phil assured her.

She nodded. "Well, I'll call," she reminded him.

"Mhm. I'll be waiting for it." He smiled warmly.

Keely smiled back at him. "Okay." She absentmindedly reached for the doorknob.

Phil reached for her.

"Come here, you," he said gently, pulling her into a warm hug. "You're not getting away without one of these."

"Oh…" Keely sighed, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Thank you, Phil." She paused a moment as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "You're the best."

"You're the best, too." He was stunned for a second by the close-up, overwhelming smell of her shampoo. He kissed the side of her head. "It's going to be okay," he told her.

"I know," she replied. They pulled apart reluctantly.

Keely seemed to feel much better now, and Phil could see it in her dazzling smile. "I'll see you later, Salt," she told him, winking as she opened the door.

"Can't wait…Pepper." She stepped out onto the front porch, waving gently before turning to go.

Phil watched her walk down the porch steps, temporarily mesmerized by her flowing, angelic movement as he always had been.

He closed the door, already counting the minutes until he could comfort her again.

…………

She closed the door behind her, enveloped in the quiet of her house. Well, nearly quiet anyway.

The only sound she heard was a woman's voice coming from the living room…but it wasn't her mother's. The voice was followed with the applause of an audience. Even before she entered the living room, she could tell that Mandy was spending some of her quality free time this afternoon with her good friend Oprah.

Keely walked quietly into the room. "Hey, Mom," she said.

Mandy turned around quickly. "Oh, nugget!" she exclaimed, cheerful. "You're home! You scared me there for a second." She laughed, waving her daughter over. "Well, come on over here. Tell me. How was breakfast?"

Keely plopped down next to her mom on the couch. Mandy put a loving arm around her daughter's waist.

"It was awesome." Keely grinned. "We went to that pancake house that just opened not too long ago, across from Otto's Pink Pig. They've got the best blueberry waffles ever." She smiled at her mom. "But your strawberry waffles kick their butt—don't worry."

"Oh, I'm not." She winked. "But thank you, sweetheart. I'm so glad you had fun. Phil is really, really good to you." She brushed a strand of blonde hair away from Keely's forehead. **_(A/N- Everyone does that to Keely, don't they? Haha. I swear I didn't plan that or anything.)_**

"Yeah. He really does." Keely looked down at her lap, playing with one of the rings on her fingers. She smiled.

Her mom burst into giggles at something on the screen. "I just love Oprah," she proclaimed. "She's just so, so funny…"

"Oh, yeah." Keely laughed distractedly. "That Oprah, she's great."

She bit her lip.

"Hey, Mom," she said casually. "Didn't you say you wanted to…talk, or something like that?" She suddenly felt nervous, and she didn't really know why.

"Oh," Mandy replied. "Oh…right." She turned her face away from the television. "Yeah, I did."

Keely couldn't find any answers or clues in her mother's face as to what it was all about, so she waited patiently as Mandy turned off the TV and then, turned to face her daughter.

"Well, sweetie, before I say anything, I want to apologize," she began. "These past couple of days, I've been acting, well, like a chicken with its head cut off. I realize that I kind of scared you, and that's the last thing I want to do to my love muffin." She brushed Keely's check lightly with her finger, and Keely smiled.

"It's okay, Mom," she said. "I mean, I'll admit you did have me a little scared, but you're forgiven."

"It's really nothing to be scared of, anyway," Ms. Teslow went on. She paused for a moment. "I guess it just…surprised me."

"Surprised you…?" Keely ran through several possibilities in her brain.

Mandy nodded. "Oh, honey," she said. "There I go, scaring you again. I'll just get right to it."

"That'd be nice," Keely said.

"Well, first of all," she said. "You remember how I said your father called the other day, don't you?"

Keely froze. _Oy vey._ "Um…yeah. I remember." She tried to sound indifferent.

"Well, you know how your Uncle Robert, his brother, lives near him, just outside of Tuscon?"

"Oh, yeah," Keely said. "Uncle Bob. He can never decide which one he wants to be called." He chuckled. She never saw her uncle much, but she'd always been fond of him. Even after her parents split when she was little, he'd kept in touch with Keely and Mandy and they'd always gotten along.

"That's right." Her mom smiled. "Well, he and your dad talked pretty recently, and...he told your dad that he's getting a divorce."

"Uncle Bob's getting a divorce?" Keely asked. Mandy nodded sympathetically. "Oh, no. That's awful." She looked upset for her uncle. "Even though I haven't seen them for a long time, I remember how close he and Aunt Karen were. He must be really crushed."

"Well, nugget, in the past few years things have gotten a little rocky for them…apparently they just had a lot of disagreements over money and whatnot, and things just weren't working out anymore." There was something in Mandy's voice when she talked about it.

A sense of familiarity with the situation, maybe.

Keely nodded. "That's sad," she sighed. "But…what about…Dad?"

"Well," Mandy went on, "he also told me something else. While the divorce is being finalized…Uncle Robert is moving out of Tuscon."

"Really? Where to?"

"Well…to Pickford."

"Really!" Keely's eyes were wide. "He's moving here? That's exciting!" She smiled. "He was always a lot of fun to be around."

"Yeah, he is," Mandy agreed, smiling. There was something more she needed to say, and Keely could tell.

"Keely," she began, "do you remember Melody?"

Keely paused a beat. "Melody?" She thought. She knew she'd heard it before…

"Yeah…Melody Teslow," Mandy continued. "She's your cousin; Bob and Karen's daughter."

Suddenly, it clicked.

"Oh!" Keely exclaimed. "Right! The really short little girl who stole the marshmallows off my s'more at the family reunion when I was five…I don't even know how I remember that, but I do." She laughed. "I was also really jealous of her pink Barbie towel, and tried to steal it when she was in the pool…"

Mandy laughed. "Right, so you remember," she said. "Well…Melody isn't a 'really short little girl' anymore, I guess. She's fourteen now, and…when Uncle Robert moves up here, he's bringing her with him."

"He is?" Keely asked. "Well…that's cool. I haven't even seen her since that reunion, but it should be cool to meet up with her again." She smiled. She was feeling much better now; this news wasn't half as bad as she'd worried about, except for the news of Uncle Bob's divorce, which was unfortunate, but at least it wasn't life-threatening or anything of that sort…

"I'm glad you think that, honey," Mandy told her daughter. "But, well…after I talked to your father, I called up your uncle to see how he was doing." She shrugged. "We talked for a bit, about his plans for what to do when he gets to California, and he told me that…he and Melody don't really have a place to stay yet. That's one of the things they're working on."

"Oh," Keely responded, unsure of what that meant. "Well, what are they going to do?"

That brought Mandy to her next topic of discussion.

"Well, jellybean," she began, "we were talking it over, and…I just knew that he was going through a lot right now, and the stress of finding a place for he and Melody to settle down up here before they even leave Arizona would be too much." She took a deep breath.

Keely looked back at her mother expectantly.

"So I offered him a place to stay, here. With us."

Keely blinked.

"Here? In our house?"

Mandy nodded.

"He and Melody?"

"Well, unless she decides to pitch a tent in the backyard," Mandy laughed, lightheartedly. She stopped when she saw how surprised Keely looked.

She took Keely's hands. "That's why I'm talking to you about it first, nugget," she said calmly. "I didn't want to just make this happen all of the sudden without talking it over with you." She paused. "What do you…think about this?"

Keely just paused. _Wow. _Her mind raced. An uncle and cousin living in the house, when it had been just she and her mom for so long?

"Well," she said, "how long would they live here?"

"Oh, sweetie, not very long," Mandy assured her. "It wouldn't be forever. Just until they find their own place, which won't take very long, because…" She straightened her shoulders proudly. "I told him I'd help him out with that one." She grinned, pulling at her shiny "I Sell Homes" pin.

Keely smiled, but her mind was racing all over the place. This wasn't really terrible news. In fact, it was kind of cool. She had always been a hospitable and considerate person, just like her mom. Her uncle was obviously going through a rough time, and she didn't want him to be without a place to stay anymore than her mom did. For a long time, it had been just Keely and Mandy, the two Teslow women. It would be cool to have two extra guests for a little while, especially her sweet, loveable uncle. She didn't really know her cousin Melody that well, but with something new comes new opportunity…something her mother always used to tell her.

Finally, she nodded.

"I think that'd be really cool," she told her mom, smiling so Mandy knew she was for real…or at least trying to be. "I do."

"So, that would be okay with you?" Mandy asked gently.

"Yes. Of course." Keely grinned. "Thank you for talking about it with me, Mom."

"Oh, sweetheart, I wouldn't have jumped into this without making sure my most important person knew all about it." She pulled Keely into a hug. "Thank you for understanding. I love you."

Keely smiled. "You're welcome…and I love you too."

Mandy rubbed her back gently, as a feeling of content hung between them. Keely felt completely relieved, and possibly, she thought, a little excited.

"So," Keely added as they pulled apart, "besides that…Dad's doing well?" She hadn't actually seen her father in almost four years, so she felt like she should ask.

"Oh," Mandy added, smoothing out her shirt. She was fidgeting again. "Yes. He's doing pretty well." She patted Keely's leg. Keely knew there was something more her mom had to say.

"Good." She smiled, but kept her eyes on her mother's face.

Mandy continued. "We were talking," she said, "and we talked about the family coming up, and your dad mentioned that it would be nice to see Melody and Robert when they're here." She paused. "But even more, he thought it would be nice to see you."

Keely was quiet.

"Your dad wants to come up and visit you," she said, "the weekend after your uncle and cousin get here."

Keely just looked down at the bracelet on her wrist, concentrating on it. Her mind was suddenly swirling. She wasn't sure what was in it. She couldn't tell how she felt.

"Okay," she said finally.

Mandy looked carefully at her daughter. "Okay?" she asked gently.

Keely looked up, taking a deep breath. "Okay," she repeated.

Mandy knew Keely too well to miss the emotions that flickered across her face. She took Keely's hand.

"Once again, sweetheart, I just said that he _wants _to come and see you," she said. "I didn't say that he absolutely was going to, only if you think you'd like that."

Keely nodded. "Mom, he's my dad," she told him. "I…" She shrugged. "I was twelve the last time I saw him…but…" She trailed off. "Still…that's…that's okay." She swallowed, trying to keep her mouth from getting any drier. She suddenly felt…nervous. She couldn't hide it.

"Oh, honey…" Mandy put her arm around Keely, pulling her closer. "Sweetie, I understand." She kissed Keely's head. "You don't have to say yes."

"It's all right," Keely assured her, not even completely assuring herself. "If he wants to come and see me…that's cool."

Mandy nodded. "I think he'd really like that," she said quietly, looking at the muted TV screen.

Keely looked at her lap.

"Well, if he's coming the weekend after Uncle Bob gets here," she asked, "when is Uncle Bob coming?"

"Well…in about a week," Mandy answered. "Today is Thursday, so…we should expect them by next Friday at the latest."

Keely nodded. "Cool." She smiled for her mom, not wanting her to worry.

But Mandy already was.

She stroked her daughter's cheek gently. "Smile, muffin," she urged her gently. "You're too pretty not to."

Keely tried it. Her mom smiled back at her.

"There it is," she said.

Suddenly, a loud buzz made them both jump.

"Oh, goodness," Mandy said, sighing. Her cell phone lay on the coffee table, vibrating.

"They can find me anywhere, can't they?" She winked at Keely, who smiled back. "Excuse me just a minute, sweetie." She patted Keely's leg, and reached for the phone, flipping it open and putting it to her ear.

"You've got Teslow," she greeted the other end of the line.

Keely looked down at her hands. She was thinking too much.

She knew just the person she needed to be around when that happened.

……………….

"So…what did you find out?" he asked her. His voice, even on the other end of the line, calmed her down instantly.

Keely looked around her cheerful bedroom, holding her cell phone against her ear. She took in a breath. "Well," she began. "It's kind of…big news, I guess."

Phil paused. "Uh-oh. Do you want me to come over?"

"Well, I mean, you don't have to. It's not horrible. I just…yeah. Come over." She bit her lip.

"All right. Are you okay, Keel?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"No."

Phil laughed, but not whole heartedly. "Okay, I'm coming over right now," he told her. He sounded concerned . "Hang in there."

This time Keely laughed. "Thanks. Just come on in when you get here. My mom had to run to the office again."

When she hung up, she lay back against her pillows and rolled over on her side. Her gaze fell upon pictures of she and Phil, on her nightstand, around her mirror, on her dresser. She closed her eyes and smiled, but into her mind snaked images of how life would be starting next week.

What would it be like to share a house with two other people? The idea of that was crazy enough, but to think one of them was actually a teenager was kind of unnerving. She wasn't really scared, she just didn't know what to expect.

Then, her father. It had been four years…

Her mind was racing too fast, and suddenly she was scaring herself. _Don't think about it so much, _she scolded herself. She was losing that argument.

Just when she thought she might be starting to go crazy, there was a tap on the door.

"Come in," she called, knowing it was him.

Then, there he was—her lifesaver.

"Hey, Keel." He closed the door behind him and crossed the room towards her, stopping just short of her bed and shoving his hands into his pockets. Her heart melted at how innocent and boyish he looked. "So, what's up?" he asked.

Keely found herself smiling. It was incredible how his very presence could make her worries just fly out the window…or at least retreat into hiding for the time being.

She looked up at him, sitting up on her bed with her knees tucked under her. "Just come here and hug me," she told him, holding out her arms.

Phil paused a beat, but a warm smile flickered across his face. "Took the words right out of my mouth," he said, dropping down next to her and wrapping his arms around her. He rubbed her back.

She tightened her grip around him, not so she was crushing him, just so he could feel how tightly she was holding on. She sighed into his shoulder. "Thank you for coming."

"I told you I'd be here to talk," he reminded her.

"I know." She took a deep breath. Over his shoulder, her eyes scanned the room, contemplatively.

"My dad wants to come and see me next weekend," she said suddenly.

Phil stopped stroking her back.

"He does?"

Keely pulled away from him slowly. "Yes." She nodded. Her voice was surprisingly emotionless.

"Oh. Well…" Phil tried to stay positive in his tone of voice, but he wasn't sure how to react. Keely hadn't really had much of a father for a good part of her life. Now, out of nowhere, he wanted to come and visit. The kind of feelings that this kind of a situation brought on were foreign to him. Still, he tried to understand.

"And I'm guessing you aren't ecstatic about this," he said, taking her hand.

She just sighed, looking up at him finally.

"I don't know…" Her voice was small, scared. "He's my dad…but, at the same time…it's like he's not…" She bit her lip.

Phil knew that expression that she had on her face now. It always started with biting the lip. Then she blinked. Then, slowly, her eyes would shine over with tears, and then…

Phil saw her face crumpling, and instantly gathered her into his arms. She started to cry.

"Aw, Keel," he said, holding her firmly, running his fingers through her hair. "You're scared, aren't you?"

She sniffed. "Possibly…"

"Hey," he told her. "Listen to me, Keel. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems."

"Phil," she responded, her voice thick, "I don't really know how to explain it. I'm scared, but I'm—I don't know, curious. I'm anxious. Yeah…I guess that's the word." She wiped her eyes.

Still holding her with one arm, Phil reached for some tissues from her nightstand. He gently wiped her eyes with one of them, then handed her another one. Gratefully, she took it.

"Phil, you rock." She looked sad and scared, but she smiled. As usual, it was breathtaking. _(A/N- Yeah I'm a girl, but I think Aly/Keely has one of the most gorgeous smiles ever!)_

"You rock…harder," Phil told her, struggling for the right word at the end. She looked up at him, and they both laughed.

"There we go!" Phil announced happily. "She's laughing!"

"Yes…she is." Keely sat up, wiping away the tears with her tissue. She sighed. "I don't know. I guess maybe I'm overreacting."

Phil shook his head. "Don't worry about overreacting," he told her, gently. "This is understandable, Keel. I just want you to remember that I'm gonna be here for you the whole time. You know that, right?"

She smiled at him appreciatively. She suddenly looked a hundred times happier.

"I do know that," she replied. "And I think you might possibly make me cry again, you perfect, incredible guy…" She giggled, hugging him gratefully, the way she always did it when they were just friends. He returned it, the same.

"I knew you would make it better," she said softly. "You always do."

He lay his head down so his lips were against her shoulder. _**(A/N--Like the Christmas episode? Oh my gosh.)** _

"Keely Teslow, you are the most wonderful girl I've ever known," he whispered.

She sighed happily. "Phil…"

They sat quietly for a few seconds.

"That wasn't the only thing my mom told me," Keely said suddenly. She pulled away just a little, so she was still holding onto Phil's arms.

He studied her face for a moment. "Uh-oh," he said quietly.

She shook her head. "No, it's – it's actually not bad." She shrugged. "Well, not really. Depends on how you look at it, I guess."

Phil looked thoughtful. "I'm thinking of several possibilities right now," he told her.

She laughed. "I was, too, when my mom first told me." She picked up a plump pink pillow from her bed and held it in her lap.

"See, my dad's brother, my Uncle Robert, lives near my dad," she began. "When my mom was talking to my dad, he told her that my uncle is getting a divorce. Then, he told her that my uncle is moving from Arizona…to Pickford."

"Oh," Phil said, nodding. "That's not bad, is it?"

"No, no," Keely said. "I mean, it's pretty cool. I guess he always really liked Pickford after he used to visit us here, before…" She trailed off, shrugging a little and looking down. "Anyway, he's moving up here…but he doesn't exactly have a place to stay yet, so…my mom offered him one. Here." She gestured around the room. "I mean, you know, not here, as in my room, but…our house."

Phil had been nodding attentively as she talked, and now he raised his eyebrows. "Wow," he said. "That'll be…interesting." He seemed surprised. "So um, is this the clown uncle?"

Keely laughed. "No, that's my mom's brother, Bruce," she said.

"Oh, okay." He laughed. "So, your uncle is living with you for awhile. That shouldn't be so bad." He ruffled her hair.

She smiled, grabbing his hand and holding it. "Yeah," she added, "Except…"

"Except?"

"I forgot to tell you the part where he has a daughter who he's bringing with him and she'll be living here too." She said it all in one breath.

Phil's eyes widened. "Whoa," he said. "Slow down there. He has a kid?"

"Mmhm. My cousin. I haven't seen her since I was, like…five. Now she'll be living with me." Keely looked as if she didn't know what to make of it all.

"Well, that might change things just a little." Phil laughed. Keely smiled only a little.

"It's okay, Keel," he told her. "I didn't say it was a bad change."

"I know," she replied. "I mean…no. I don't know." She shrugged. "All I know is I have the best boyfriend in the history of forever, and we should both go and do something to get our minds off of this." She held his hand and gazed at him eagerly.

He nodded. "Awesome." He smiled. "By the way, as flattered as I am, I can't take credit for being the best boyfriend in the history of forever. Just…up until the year 2121." He stood up, brushing off his shirt in a fake "proud" kind of gesture.

"Ha," Keely said, grinning. "All right then, I guess I stand correc—" As she went to stand up off her bed, Phil scooped his hands underneath her and lifted her up like a baby. "Ah!" she exclaimed.

"I just had to do it." He grinned boyishly as he carried her out of her room, and Keely smiled back.

What was it she was worrying about again…?

……………

**Hmm. There's something about Melody... you'll find out when you meet her.**

**By the way…if you're wondering about Pim, and her whole plot thing, trust me, it all ties in. )**

**I heart all your reviews and I think you probably know that after my note at the top! In the words of Curtis, "TIIIIIITUNGAAAAA." That made no sense.**


	6. Dinner Time, Again

**Hey guysss!**

**I love that you loved that last chapter. Seriously every time I read your reviews, they literally make me smile. So gracias again!**

**Alright, wanna clear something up really quick. Funvince- You mentioned the whole thing with the InstaMorph vs. the Wizrd. You're right, that's my bad. I can't go back and change it because that would be changing too much, so I can't really change it in this chapter either. I'm just gonna mention it briefly so we can just…pretend. P Sorry about that.**

**Also, about the thing with Pim's Wizrd, that part may have been a little confusing, but she did basically sum up what happened to it. Remember in the first chapter when she interrupted Phil and Keely's phone conversation and Phil threatened her, saying that she should use her Wizrd while she still has the chance because he could easily tell their parents about her report card scheme which she pulled on her mom and Hackett? (You can go back and read if I confused you there, lol) Well in this chapter, he asks her what happened to her Wizrd, and she says "Hackett lives next door now, oh how word gets around" etc., well she was talking about how Hackett and her mom were talking about the report card thing, and she got busted for it. So her mom ended up taking it away. I'm sorry that was so confusing, lol, I figured that I could have Pim sum it up for you guys in that way she has of uh, summing things up…I just thought it would be funny if she walked in on them while Phil was Messerschmidt, and freaked out. Lol. She still has her issue though, like in the 3rd chapter, so we'll see what happens with that. Like I said, it all ties in.**

**Oh speaking of Messerschmidt, I don't know how I came up with that clown thing really. I just started making stuff up. I was watching the "Maybe Sitting" episode the night I started typing that, so I guess I sort of drew from that. Lol. Messerschmidt's crazy.**

**By the way, thank you for all of you telling me that I have the characters down so well…I try. ) Personally, I flippin' love Pim. So if you couldn't tell, I love writing her character. **

**A lot of you are curious about Melody now. Teehee. Anyway, remember how I said that this is my idea of how the third season could end up working out. That's all I'll say. **

**Anyway! Here it is! Spring break is over now so instead of balancing hanging out with friends and writing my story, I'm mostly balancing school and writing my story. A little tougher maybe, but oh well. Four more days til the weekend, and 29 (school) days until summer break! (As of the day I started this anyhow.)**

……

**Chapter 6**

"Mom, it _wasn't_ funny. He scared the crumbs out of me. I thought it was really Messerschmidt!"

Barb couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's story as she imagined it. It did seem like something Phil would do.

"Honey, I can assure you that your teacher won't be around here during your summer vacation," she told her daughter. "Unless Phil and Keely take on another babysitting job…" She shrugged.

"They won't." Pim narrowed her eyes.

Barb laughed. "Okay then."

Pim lay back on the hammock in the Diffy backyard, gazing up at the summer's late afternoon sky. Her mom stood nearby, watering some flowers she'd planted. Everything seemed to have settled into place. They were full residents of the 21st century now. Even Pim didn't mind admitting to that one.

The thing was, everyone in the century—the ones who lived there because they were born at the right time to naturally be able to do so—knew what they were all about. They had their friends, they had their activities, they knew what to do to keep themselves entertained, especially when there was nothing else to do but that. Pim could easily keep herself entertained, no problem at all. She just had a different way of going about it—using a lot of fancy gadgets unheard of by the community she had come to know here.

It was more fun that way, being one of the only ones who possessed that kind of technology.

Wasn't it?

The clouds above her moved at a leisurely pace, just like Pickford's vacationing residents. Pim followed them with her eyes. Moments passed, and she found herself slowly mesmerized by them. There was something about the large, vast sky above her head that was so fascinating. She couldn't believe it, but there was.

"The sky is really…cool-looking," she said suddenly.

Barb paused a moment. "What was that, sweetie?"

Pim shook her head, trying to pop herself out of a trance, but she found that wasn't in one. The sky was just enjoyable to look at.

"I said the sky looks cool today," she repeated. "I don't know what it is, but there's…something about it."

Barb gazed upward, shading her eyes with one hand. "It doesn't look much different to me," she commented. "But it is really pretty, isn't it?"

"Doesn't it seem …I don't know…too perfect-looking?" Pim asked. "I mean, like it's fake, like someone painted it up there, only…it's not?"

Barb smiled at her daughter, who seemed to be caught up in a moment of wonderment. It was a very rare side of Pim, who usually tended to be caught up in her next plan of domination instead.

"The sky almost always looks like that around here, honey," she said to Pim. "It's one of the things that I love about this place. There's so much natural beauty, even in our own backyard." She grinned fondly at her flower arrangement.

Pim was quiet for a moment as she watched the clouds some more.

"Are you sure the sky has always looked like that?" she asked.

Barb put down the watering can, taking off her gardening gloves. She looked up at the sky, sharing the gorgeous view with Pim.

"It always has," she said. "I think you just haven't ever really noticed it, sweetie."

Pim was thoughtful. Barb smiled in enjoyment at her daughter's expression.

"We never really saw stuff like this in ol' two-one-two-one, did we?" Pim asked.

Barb looked up again. "No," she responded. "We never really did."

Pim just folded her hands back underneath her head.

"Hmmm," she muttered. "Funny. I'm actually enjoying myself…by staring at the sky." She raised an eyebrow, puzzled. Barb laughed, as Pim's brief amazement seemed to come to an end. As usual though, she said exactly what she was thinking.

"It's possible," she told Pim, winking.

"Well, I guess." Pim pretended to be nonchalant about it, but she and her mom exchanged a smile. She focused on the formation of the clouds again, noticing, again for the first time, exactly which shapes they made.

"Pim, now that you really are enjoying yourself without using any of our future technology," Barb asked her, still grinning, "have you given any more thought to what we talked about the other day? About finding some kids to hang out with during the summer?"

Pim paused. "Well, yeah."

"And?" Barb asked curiously.

"Well…" Pim kept her eyes on the sky for a moment, but finally sat up slowly, leaning on her elbow. "That's kind of what I was doing this morning."

"Oh really?" Barb asked, interested. "What did you do?"

"Well…"

_FLASHBACK_

_Pim, Phil's borrowed Wizrd in hand, stepped out into the backyard, where a restless Curtis was waiting. "Ooh! Pim ready to play?" he asked eagerly, jumping up from his spot on the ground._

"_Yeah, Pim's ready," she answered, grinning. "In some form…"_

_Curtis watched as a blue ray of light produced an exact clone of Pim, from the blonde braids to the wide blue eyes to the "Barbie Dumped Ken" T-shirt to the pink skirt and sandals. The clone stood there, crossing her arms over her chest and gazing back and forth between the original Pim and Curtis._

_Pim picked the tennis ball up from the ground and tossed it to her clone. "There ya go," she said. "Take it away, so I don't have to." _

_Her clone looked at the ball, shrugged, and tossed it as far as she could. "Go get it, caveman!" she yelped._

_Original Pim left the yard, grinning to herself. "Now, where to begin?" she muttered._

_She wandered aimlessly down the street, eyeing the people she saw outside. She spotted a few little kids, a few old people and a lady walking a weird-looking dog. "There's gotta be someone around here interesting enough to hang out with," she mumbled. "Or at least talk to."_

_She walked on. The sun was hot, and she was bored. The Virtu-Goggles, or at least the TV, were starting to call her name. _

"_This is hopeless," she said carelessly, rolling her eyes._

_Suddenly, there was a voice from behind her._

"_Excuse me!"_

_She paused a moment. It sounded like someone relatively close to her age. _

_She whirled around._

"_Um, what do I do now?" came the voice again._

_The source of the voice was her very own clone, standing on the sidewalk behind her. _

"_What are you doing out here?" the original Pim demanded. _

"_Um, your caveman kinda got excited," Pim #2 said, holding up the shredded remnants of the tennis ball. _

_Pim sighed, grabbing her clone by the arm and shoving her back towards the Diffy house. "He'll get over it," she muttered. "In the meantime, _you_ can't be out here!" _

_As she shoved Pim #2 into the backyard again, Pim rolled her eyes._

"_So much for finding new friends around here, Mom," she muttered._

"_Debbie is your friend," her clone remarked._

_Pim shot her replicate a "What is wrong with you?" glare._

"_And you're a replicate. Bye." She waved cheerily, then zapped the clone into nothingness._

_She sighed, hands on her hips._

"_Pim make other Pim," Curtis spoke up suddenly, causing Pim to look over to where he stood patiently in the yard, where her replicate had left him. "Pim make other ball, too?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Flinstone," she replied._

_END FLASHBACK_

Barb looked amused by the story.

"Well, it's...a start," she said slowly. "At least you tried. Honey, I know there's somewhere you can find friends before school starts up. There's only about four weeks left until it does, if I'm right."

"Well, if all else fails, Dawkins will be back sometime before then," Pim said lazily. She quickly added, "Not that he's my first choice. Just if things get desperate." She lay back down, closing her eyes.

It was then that the back door opened. Phil entered the yard.

"Oh, hi, sweetie," Barb greeted him.

"Hey, Mom." Phil walked over and stood near her, folding his arms across his chest. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh, just taking care of my flowers. The _old fashioned_ way." She grinned and nudged him proudly.

"Oh. Very cool." Phil nodded, smiling. He caught a look at his sister, lying on the hammock.

"What's up with Pim?" he asked.

Barb glanced over at her. "Oh, she's just resting," she answered. "I think she's really enjoying herself."

"Without the Wizrd, InstaMorph or _World Domination Weekly_? Incredible," Phil remarked.

"Hey, Futurehead, you depend on those too," she called from her spot. "Except for the magazine I guess. Speaking of which, has this month's issue come in the mail yet?"

Barb rolled her eyes. "No, haven't seen it."

"Darn." Pim lay her head back down. Phil just shook his head.

"No Keely?" his mom inquired.

"Oh, she's helping around the house tonight," Phil said. "Her mom wants to start making sure it looks spic and span for next week, I guess."

"Next week? What's happening next week?"

"Oh, um, well that's what she told me this morning," he answered. "Turns out her uncle and cousin are moving here, and they're gonna stay with Keely and her mom for a little while, until they find a place to settle down."

"Oh, are they really?" his mother asked, interested. "That's nice of Mandy to do that. What does Keely think about it?"

"She's okay with it," Phil said. He shrugged. "What she's not okay with is…well…" He glanced over at Pim, to make sure she was off in her own world.

Slightly softer, he said, "Her dad is coming up next weekend."

Barb looked surprised. "Is he?"

Phil nodded.

"Well, I knew he didn't live with her, but I didn't know how she felt about him," Barb said. She motioned Phil over to the picnic table, and they sat down on it.

"He…took off when she was little," Phil explained quietly. "She hasn't seen him very much since then. When I talked to her this morning, she said she was really anxious about him visiting." Phil looked down. "I mean…she started crying. She doesn't feel like he really knows her that well. We went out and played some tennis today so she could get her mind off of it, but I can tell it's still bothering her. I wish I knew how to help. You know?" Phil looked distressed.

"Oh, sweetheart," Barb sighed after she heard the story. "Now I wish I could, too."

"Yeah," Phil said quietly.

"But, I think," Barb said, putting a comforting hand on Phil's knee, "the best thing you can do for Keely right now is just be there for her. That's something you're _really_ good at." She smiled. "I'm so happy for you two, Phil."

Phil beamed gratefully. "Thanks, Mom."

Barb put her arm around him and kissed the side of his head, before standing up. "Make sure to tell Keely that she's welcome to come over anytime she needs to, okay?" she told him. "In fact, you should see if she wants to come over for dinner tonight."

Phil nodded. "That sounds like a good idea," he said. He jumped up off the picnic table. "I'll go send her a text message. She's probably still helping her mom."

He paused before heading into the house, glancing over at his sister, who appeared to have fallen asleep. Grinning mischievously, he tip-toed over to the hammock, picked up his Wizrd which Pim had left underneath it, and began fiddling with the controls.

Just as he was about to blast her with the tickle ray…

"I wouldn't," she warned him, not even opening her eyes. "I may not have access to my Wizrd, but I do know where the DNA Scrambler is." She fell silent again.

Phil drew back. With a "how the heck does she _do_ that?" expression, he turned around and headed towards the house again.

Barb whispered to him with a smile as he passed by. "No she doesn't."

* * *

"Thanks for having me over, Phil," Keely said as she stepped in through the door. "You guys rock."

"No problem at all, Keel," he said. "My mom made her specialty chicken tonight—the spray kind." He added the last part quickly, not wanting Keely to worry. Everyone knew that Barb's regular 21st century cooking skills weren't quite up to par yet. "I know you love that."

Keely didn't seem worried at all. "Sweet!" she exclaimed. She kissed Phil's cheek and gave him a warm hug.

Phil smiled as he embraced her back. When they pulled away, he noticed a new glow about her that he hoped would last throughout the evening. Dressed fresh and pretty for dinner in a white and yellow striped halter top and yellow tennis style miniskirt, her hair pulled up simply in a high ponytail and white hoop earrings dangling from her ears, even with a male's perspective—or maybe especially with a male's perspective—he thought she looked incredible.

"You look awesome, Keely," he told her.

She smiled bashfully, brushing her bangs aside. As she did so, the row of yellow bangles on her wrist slid down around her arm, clicking as they hit one another. "Thank you, Phil," she replied. "Do I even have to tell you how adorable you are?"

"Could you?" he joked. She jabbed him in the side.

"Anyway," he laughed, changing the subject as they headed into the living room. "How did cleaning go?" He bit his tongue, hoping it wouldn't remind her of her stress over the events of next week.

Luckily, it didn't seem to. "Not bad," she answered. "Although I did accidentally suck up a pair of my earrings in the vacuum cleaner. Other than that, fine." She smiled.

"Great." He grinned. "I mean, not the earring part."

"I know what you mean." She laughed. "I'm constantly adding to my earring collection anyway. No big deal. Oh, hey Mrs. Diffy!"

Barb came into the room, smiling as she noticed their guest. "Hey Keely!" she greeted her, giving her a hug. "So glad you could make it for dinner, honey. It's almost ready, if you guys want to come on into the kitchen." She motioned them to follow her.

Dinner was pleasant and normal, everyone discussing their personal accounts of the day. There were jokes and laughter, all the usual…if you could consider anything in the Diffy house "the usual". Eventually though, there was a lull in the conversation, as everyone ate quietly.

Phil watched Keely for a moment, wondering what she was thinking. For a second, she caught his eyes over the rim of her glass as she lifted it for a drink. He smiled, and she put the glass down, smiling back. They both saw something in one another's eyes. They knew each other way too well. But nothing was said. Not by them, anyway.

"So, Keely!" Barb said brightly. "Phil tells me that your uncle and cousin are coming to town?"

Phil looked cautiously from his mom to Keely, internally begging his mother not to bring up the "father" subject.

"Oh, yeah," Keely smiled. "It should be…fun."

"Is your cousin around your age?" Barb asked casually.

"Fourteen," Keely answered. "So, kind of."

"Oh, fourteen," Barb replied cheerfully. "Just like Pim." She looked over at her daughter.

"Huh?" Pim set down her glass, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

Barb sighed, handing her a napkin. "Use it," she commanded gently. "Anyway, I was just saying that Keely's cousin who's moving to Pickford, is the same age as you." She smiled.

Pim wiped her mouth. "Mom, if you're trying to get me together with some anonymous kid just because he's my age and he's Keely's family…sorry, but wouldn't it be enough for you if just _one_ of your kids married a Teslow?" She shot her brother a very quick glance as she said it. After her speech, she simply picked up her fork again.

As she spoke, Barb's, Phil's, and Keely's eyebrows had all raised. When she was finished talking, Keely's eyes widened as she realized what Pim had said, and Phil's expression mirrored hers. Lloyd just looked confused.

"Um," Keely began, collecting herself, "actually Pim, my cousin isn't a boy. She's…a girl."

Barb just laughed and shook her head.

Pim looked around the table, perfectly aware of the reactions she had caused, but keeping it hidden under the smug look on her face. "Oh," she said. "Well, sorry Mom. I guess that changes your plans."

Barb opened her mouth in protest, but shook her head instead.

Phil looked up at Keely, and saw her struggling to keep her smile under control. He bit his tongue, trying to do the same. Finally, they almost couldn't contain themselves.

Phil jumped up quickly. "Hey, Mom," he said. "Want me to clear the table for you?"

Keely caught his drift, and raised her hand. "I can help, too," she volunteered.

"Oh, that'd be nice," Barb replied. "Thank you, kids."

Keely grabbed her plate and glass, and Phil grabbed his. He took his mother's plate, and Keely went for Lloyd's. When Phil reached for Pim's, she slapped his hand. "Not done," she said sweetly.

He smirked in response, and he and Keely quickly bustled into the kitchen. Once they were safely in it, they both started giggling uncontrollably, not even sure what they were laughing over anymore.

"Sorry about her," Phil said. "Again…"

"No, it's okay." Keely giggled as she put the dishes in the sink. "Some might say she's kind of over the top…okay, I would too, but the thing about your sister is…she's harmless." Keely shrugged. "Most of the time, she's actually pretty funny." She grinned.

Phil looked alarmed, and placed a hand on Keely's forehead. "Are you feeling lightheaded, dizzy, woozy, anything like that?" he prompted.

Keely rolled her eyes, gently brushing his hand away. "I'm serious, Phil. She's not always bad. Some of the stuff she says actually halfway makes sense." She looked down at her hands, then up at him, shyly.

Phil just looked back at her. For just a second, their eyes locked…

Of course though, that didn't last long.

A sudden sound made them jump. Phil glanced over at the table. "Your purse is ringing," he informed her.

She laughed. "Thanks, Phil." She walked over to the kitchen table where she'd left her purse, yanked her phone out and looked at the caller ID. "It's Via," she said, surprised. "Do you mind…?" She gestured to the still ringing cell phone.

"No, by all means." He smiled.

"Okay." She flipped open her phone. "Hey, Vi."

Phil put the rest of the dishes in the sink, rinsing them absentmindedly. He might as well do it the old fashioned way – his Wizrd was up in his room and he was too lazy to go get it. He listened to Keely's conversation on and off, perfectly used to the giggling and chatter.

"You are?" Keely said. "That sounds awesome. Yeah, of course! Do you think I'd turn that down? Yes, we'll be there. Oh…really? Well, next week is…kinda crazy…Well… Okay. I'll call you later, 'kay Vi? Love ya."

Keely closed her phone with a snap. Phil didn't prod right away. He did however, notice that she looked a little…stressed.

"Well," she announced. "The good news is, Via's planning an end of summer party and we're both invited." She came over to stand next to him.

"End of summer party," Phil said, nodding. "Sounds awesome…but, is it, uh, common for people here to celebrate going back to school…?"

Keely laughed. "No. Definitely not. It's just kind of a last big fling of summer before we have to go back."

"Oh. Okay. I didn't think Via was that…weird." He shrugged.

Keely shook her head. "Well, it should be a pretty awesome party…a pretty awesome party that she wants me to help her plan, during the exact same week that two new people are moving into my house!" She sighed.

"Uh-oh." Phil abandoned his dishes. "How big of a party are we talking here?"

"Not huge. Just a bonfire, music, tons of food, decorations, a pool, or maybe the beach…she hasn't decided yet." Keely looked at Phil, whose eyes were wide. She sighed. "I know, it is kind of big. I would be totally ecstatic about it too, if my week wasn't already booked solid with stress." She folded her arms over her chest. "As if preparing for a new roommate and visit from my dad wasn't enough…" Her voice was quiet.

"Hey," Phil comforted her. "Keely, listen to me. You aren't in this alone. I promise."

Keely raised her emerald green eyes to his.

Phil continued. "We're just gonna take this one thing at a time, okay? You don't have to let this party stress you out on top of everything else. If you want…" He shrugged. "I could help you out."

Keely looked at him curiously. "I'm guessing this has_ something _to do with you being from another century…"

He grinned. "You said it, not me."

She just bit her lip and smiled. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Anything I can do." He took her gently by the arms, then slid his hands down to hers, interlocking their fingers.

Keely just sighed in relief. "Thank you…"

"Yes, thank you," came another sickeningly sweet voice before Phil could respond. And there was Pim.

She set her plate down on the counter, next to the sink. "I'm glad you could take care of the dishes tonight, Phil," she said mockingly, grinning. "Sorry I interrupted." Before she could make her exit, she punched her brother's arm lightly and threw a glance in Keely's direction, raising her eyebrows in silent communication with Phil.

"Way to go, _Philly-Willy_," she whispered before leaving the room.

Somehow, he couldn't say anything in response.

…………

**Almost time to meet the family:) Stick around! **


	7. Jellybeans and Half a Heart

**Well you haven't met Melody yet, but in a way…you have. **

**I'm really excited to introduce her. :) Just please make sure to read the note at the end of this chapter okay? Thanks :) much looove.**

………

Each breeze that came through got steadily chillier, as then sun made its way lower and lower into the horizon, off to shine on another part of the planet. In Pickford, they were lucky; it never got too cold in summertime, even at night.

Two silhouettes formed by the evening shadows sat on a spread out blanket, a backyard fence hiding them away form the rest of the world.

"Yesthhh!" Keely exclaimed, the orange jellybean she had just caught on her tongue impairing her speech. "I caught it!"

"Yes you did. So that's Keely, four; Phil…how many?" Phil leaned towards Keely, challenging her. A smile flickered across her face, despite trying to hide it by looking everywhere around Phil's backyard except at him.

"How many jellybeans have I caught, Keel?" he challenged again, grinning widely.

"Sevenjellybeans." She clumped the phrase together into one word.

"Seven, you said?" He faked bewilderment.

"Yes, seven! Seven seven seven seven seven SEVEN!" Keely yelled louder than intended, chucking another jellybean at his face. It took him by surprise as he pretended to bask in his glory, smacking him just below the eye.

"What the?" he exclaimed, touching his face in the spot it had hit. Keely burst out laughing, covering her face with her hands.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" she giggled. "Even though you're being a huge dork about beating me at jellybean tossing...I still am."

He just smiled at her, watching her hair fall across her face. The lighting couldn't have been more perfect right then, the sunshine reduced to a few dim orange rays that came from the pink and orange glow of the clouds above the horizon. He wished he had a picture of her just like that.

Half of Keely's hair was pulled back and tied with a red ribbon, which the breeze lifted gently every once and awhile and tossed around. Her eyes were bright, and the corners of her mouth were lifted in a lingering smile. Right in that moment, she looked so incredibly happy.

"You know I'm joking," Phil assured her. "Jellybeans aren't nearly as important to me as my component is, anyway. No matter how much of my dust she's eating." He beamed.

Keely just smiled in response and scooted in closer, leaning her face nearer to his. Just when she was a mere inch away from him, he whispered something.

"Dork, huh?"

Taking into deliberation how close she was to him, he took her gently by the waist, and began to tickle her into oblivion.

"Oh my gosh! Phil! PHILIP!" Keely gasped, laughing hysterically. The sound echoed around the yard, fluttering off into the breeze just as easily as it had escaped from her.

She had toppled over on her side when he finally stopped tickling her. She looked up at him, sore from laughter.

"Yes, Phil," she said finally. "You're a _dork_."

He just nodded. "I can live with that," he said casually. "Could you um, sit up though, Keel? I might have issues leaning down that far to kiss you."

She pretended to think it over. "I guess…" She pushed herself up. "Are you sure? 'Cause my mouth tastes like a rainbow of jellybeans right now."

"And mine?"

She smiled girlishly. "Okay then."

So Phil leaned in…but Keely leaned in faster, and met her lips with his first. They kissed as the last rays of light melted away, leaving them with dusk.

Approximately eleven seconds later, she broke away gently, and smirked at him. "_I_ seem to have beaten _you_ to that one," she concluded.

He grinned, satisfied. "Fine." He held up his hands in a gesture of forfeit.

She smiled, nestling herself against Phil. Her eyes wandered across the sky. She was happy; very happy. She felt like all her cares were up in the air… and then, down one came.

"Tomorrow's the day they come," she said suddenly, almost as if she were talking to herself. "Tonight is my last night as the only kid in the house."

Phil just took her hand. Interlocked, both their hands rested on Keely's lap. "For a little bit, at least," he added.

It was Thursday evening, and just as Keely's mom had predicted, Melody and her Uncle Bob would be getting in on Friday, just one day away. The week had basically been lots of preparation and mixed feelings. Keely had seen her mother ecstatic over the impending arrival of their family one day, and the next, stressed out over making sure everything was just right for when they got there. Her own emotions had been pretty similar.

As she sat on a blanket on the grass with Phil, she was thoughtful.

"I just can't stop wondering how it's going to be," she told him. "This past week, I've thought about it every day. It doesn't even seem like that big of a deal…that's why I feel so weird. I don't know if I'm worried or excited."

"Well, maybe it doesn't have as much to do with your family moving in as you think," Phil answered, suggesting that for the first time. "Maybe it's just…other stuff. Maybe you're stressed out over Via's party, or…"

Keely nodded. "My dad."

"Right." Phil wasn't sure how comfortable she was with people just bringing it up. He himself, although he couldn't say it to Keely, had also spent quite a bit of time thinking about her father. He, too, was meeting him for the first time. This man was half of Keely, a half he'd never known, but partially responsible for her very existence. Phil was "the boyfriend."

He tried not to think too much about it. He was the one who was supposed to make Keely feel better, after all. It wasn't just that he felt obligated to; he wanted it for her so badly.

"I dunno," Keely said, interrupting his bizarre thoughts. "You could be right." She held their clasped hands against her chest.

"I could?" he asked.

"Yeah. Via's party is supposed to be fun, but it's gonna take a lot of planning. She really wants to go all out. You know how much I love that kind of stuff, but…"

"I know," Phil replied.

"And then, well, you know the whole thing about my dad. It's kinda hard to explain..." She trailed off.

"I know it is, Keel." He hugged her tighter. "You don't have to."

She just took a deep breath. "Maybe the family moving in won't be as weird as I've thought," she decided. "To be honest, it's probably the least stressful event out of everything. Should I be excited, Phil?"

He nodded. "Yes, Keel," he confirmed. "Be excited." He smiled and nuzzled her hair with his nose.

"Excited," Keely repeated. "Yeah. I mean, hey, my cousin is a teenage girl. Heck, it should be awesome to have another one of those around in the house! I've never had a sister before…" Her heart fluttered with anticipation suddenly. Phil must think I'm crazy, she thought. One minute I'm worried, the next I'm thrilled…

However, she soon realized that she should know him better than that. "She's fourteen," Phil added positively, "and…you're sixteen. Okay, it's a couple of years' difference, but a teenage girl is a teenage girl…am I right, or am I just sounding stupid?"

Keely shook her head slowly. "No," she said finally. "No, you aren't. I think you've probably just made me feel a whole lot better." She turned to look at him. "Starting with how you devoted half your day to me today…" She grinned at the memories from just earlier that same day; the two of them swinging at the park, Phil picking her a dandelion bouquet, a few rounds of tennis at the courts, lounging outside as Phil listened intently to Keely playing her guitar, and of course, their goofy jellybean toss game. All of it was completely simple, something than any plain old 21st century-er could accomplish on their own, but as far as Keely was concerned, it was out of this world.

"…And I know you did it because you wanted to help me," she added. "Because you know me. You just…understand." She shrugged.

Phil smiled tenderly, wanting to explain to her how much she meant to him, knowing that with all of his super-futuristic education, he wouldn't be able to find exactly the right words.

"And I didn't think I was helping that much," he answered jokingly. He kissed her forehead. "You know why I did it," he whispered. She felt his breath against her brow.

The back porch light flicked on then, flooding Keely's face with light as he pulled away. Both of them turned abruptly, and saw Phil's mom through the glass of the back door. Seeing that she had their attention, she opened the door and leaned out.

"Are you two getting cold?" she asked.

Phil looked at Keely, then back at his mom. "A little," he admitted, realizing how dark it had gotten outside. Somehow, they hadn't noticed.

"Well, we made popcorn, and we're all going to watch a movie on TV," Barb said. "You can both come in and join us if you'd like." She smiled kindly.

"That sounds fun." Keely smiled. "You want to, Phil?"

"We shall." He stood up, grabbing her hand. Keely grabbed the blanket.

"You are ridiculous," she laughed. She leaned in close and added, "I _love_ it." _(A/N: So dorky, but such a classic.)_

The movie was nice, enough so to get Keely's mind on one track for a little bit…until her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, and she removed it to find a text message waiting from Via.

"Oh, great," Phil heard her whisper.

"What?" he asked her quietly, examining her face.

She sighed. "Just Via," she said, smiling at little.

"The party?"

"Yeah." She began punching the buttons on her phone in response to Via. "I love her to death, Phil, don't get me wrong…" She just blew out a breath, which lifted her bangs off her forehead. Phil laughed and put his arm around her, pulling her closer.

"Laughter not permitted during the film, sir," Pim quipped, never removing her eyes from the screen.

Phil rolled his eyes, and Keely giggled. "Pim not permitted in this household," Phil retorted. "Oh, scraps. I forgot I don't have that authority." His mom threw a pillow at him. "Ow," he jumped. Barb just smiled.

"Be nice," she reminded him. "You too," she added to Pim, ruffling her hair.

"_Everyone_ be nice, it's getting to the good part!" Lloyd jumped in.

Phil just rolled his eyes and sat back on the couch. He wasn't as focused on the movie as he was on Keely. Sure, during the past two and a half years he had spent a lot of time focused on her anyway, but he always paid a little more attention when he sensed something about her that she wasn't making obvious. He could practically see stress lines in her forehead now, even though every time she looked up at him, she smiled. He began playing gently with her hair, twisting it around his finger and running his fingers through it. He knew she liked that; she had told him before how she always loved when her mom had brushed through her hair when she was little. She relaxed noticeably after a moment.

Finally, she flipped her phone shut. "Well," she whispered, "at least Via has decided on the beach."

Phil nodded. "Well, then," he said brightly. "That cuts down decorations. What is she planning on decorating on a beach?"

Keely smiled. "You're so right," she said. "Phil…you're incredible." She beamed at him, leaning in to kiss his cheek without thinking. When she pulled away, both of their blissful expressions ceased for a second when they saw Pim, sitting on the other couch with her parents, fighting back a smile as hard as she could. And the movie wasn't funny.

They sat in silence, except for the other couch of Diffys' comments on the movie every so often.

Several minutes later, Keely's phone rang. "Oh," she said, pulling it out of her pocket. "It's my mom. Sorry, guys."

"That's all right." Barb smiled, and everyone continued to watch the movie as Keely took her call.

"Hey Mom," she greeted Mandy.

"Hi, jellybean. How are you?"

"I'm great. We're all watching a movie."

"Oooh, fun! I'm sorry to interrupt, but nugget, could you please be home by ten? Your uncle and cousin will be here tomorrow morning, so we need to be up and at 'em early!"

"Oh, right. Sure, I will." Keely traced the pattern on the couch cushion below her absentmindedly.

"Okay, sweetie. Do you need me to come and get you?"

"No, that's okay. I can walk. Nothing ever happens in Pickford." She and Phil exchanged a smile.

"Okay, only if you're sure, muffin. Tell the Diffys I say hi! I'll see you at ten o'clock!"

"I will. See ya then. Bye, Mom." She hung up, and back into her pocket went her phone.

"Mom says hi," she told everyone. She turned to Phil. "She also said I have to be home by ten. Have to be up early tomorrow." She shrugged. Phil understood.

"Okay," he said. "We have about a half an hour yet." He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Do you think you can stand the movie until then?"

She laughed. "Yes, I can. Now hush. It's getting to the good part." She smiled at him, and softly put her head down on his shoulder.

Ten o'clock came faster than they'd anticipated. Phil walked Keely to the front door.

"I can walk you home, Keel," he offered.

"Okay." She smiled. "Thank you, Phil."

"No problem. Hey, Mom, Dad, I'm gonna walk Keely home, okay?"

"Okay," Lloyd called back from the living room. He waved. "Thanks for coming over and watching the movie with us, kiddo." He smiled at Keely.

"Thank you for having me, Mr. Diffy," she replied. "You too, Mrs. Diffy."

"Sweetie, you know you can call us Barb and Lloyd, right?" Barb asked with a grin.

"Oh…um, okay," Keely said brightly, glancing at Phil. He just smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets. It was obviously something Keely would have to get used to, even having known the Diffys for nearly three years. "Well…goodnight, everyone," she said again, waving. "Goodnight, Pim." She smiled as Pim came back into the room.

"Later, Keely," Pim responded, picking up the empty popcorn bowl.

Keely looked impressed at Pim's usage of her actual name, which seemed to be happening a lot more since the last year. She turned to see Phil holding open the door for her, and she smiled. "Thank you," she said, as stepped out into the breezy summer evening.

The first half of the walk to Keely's was filled with happy conversation, even the slightest silence totally comfortable, as it was and always had been with the two of them. As they headed down Keely's street, Phil watched her face in the glow of the streetlights.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her gently.

She looked up at him, and he watched her bangs fall across her eye. He reached out and tucked them behind her ear.

"Change is good, right?" Keely asked him.

Phil just reached out and took her hand. He sometimes forgot that he could do that now, even after two months; he'd walked her home so many times during the years they were just best friends, and now, that was one of the few reminders that they were anything more.

_(A/N- As in…they're still best, best friends and have the same great relationship they always did…they just kiss a lot more now. Lol.)_

"Well, Keel," he responded. "About two years ago, my family got stranded in a century that was almost totally foreign to us, and we had no idea how long we'd have to stay." He paused for a moment, watching Keely think it over. "And now, here we are." He squeezed her hand. "What do you think?"

The smile on Keely's face grew until she was beaming, and she stopped right at the end of her front walk, turning to Phil.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," she told him, shaking her head. She looked as if there was something more she wanted to say,yet she couldn't do anything except smile. She finally threw her arms around his neck, holding him closely.

"This was meant to be."

Her voice was barely a whisper, but Phil heard. He rubbed her back, his hands finally coming to rest on the lower part.

"I couldn't see it happening any other way," he told her.

They pulled apart then, slowly, only because they had to. Mandy had the front porch light on, waiting for her daughter, and although she always allowed them a little leeway on time, it was already after ten.

Phil took her hand and walked her the rest of the way to her porch. He knew it wasn't necessary, but it was pleasant, saying goodnight under the glow of the porch light, like it was a first date all over again.

"Phil," Keely began as they stood outside her door, "why don't you come over tomorrow? You can, you know, meet the family." She grinned.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Phil replied cheerfully. "I'll be here. Say, noon-ish?"

"All right." Keely nodded. "Well, then…goodnight, Phil. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave his hand a squeeze.

"Bye, Keel." He kissed her cheek, then her lips, softly and sweetly. He hugged her. Then, he was gone.

She stood on the porch for a moment, watching him go. When he turned around briefly, she blew him a kiss and waved. He waved back. "Go to bed!" he called to her, smiling.

……………..

Her arm numb and fatigued, Keely paused to give it a rest. Shaking it out, she sighed, then reached up to pull her golden waves of hair back into a ponytail.

The vacuum cleaner sat roaring in front of her, sucking up every last shard of dust or any other possible particles left in the carpet underneath it. Keely gazed around the guest room, looking for any last minute imperfection she may need to fix.

She checked her wrist watch. "Only ten?" she muttered. "I'd still be sleeping now." She sighed, shaking her head. Shutting off the vacuum cleaner, she pulled the plug from the wall.

Keep your head up, Keely, she told herself. If there was any time to abandon her bubbly personality, now was not it.

"Jellybean!" Her mother's voice came from the hallway, and there she was in the doorway. "Oh, the room looks wonderful, honey. You're quite the little housekeeper." She put her arm on Keely's shoulder, patting it.

"Thanks, Mom."

Mandy smiled. "Just so you know, we have less than an hour until they get here." She held her daughter's hand firmly in both of hers, giving it a shake. "Exciting, isn't it?"

"Yeah, less than an hour. Wow." Keely nodded. "Except…there's no way I can welcome them into our house looking like this." With mild disgust, she looked down at the polka dotted pajama pants and pink tank top she'd slept in, tugging at her loose ponytail.

Her mom, who was already freshened up for the day, smiled at her warmly. "You look beautiful in_ anything_, nugget." She pinched her daughter's cheeks. Keely just giggled.

"Thanks, but 'anything' can wait for another day. I'm gonna go get ready."

After a shower and carefully considering her outfit, Keely was almost, maybe, sort of ready. In a breezy light blue sundress over jeans, she frantically did her hair, settling on braiding it to the side. At the last moment, she added a white sequin-covered scarf to it. Then there was makeup. She fumbled with her eyeliner, trying to apply it.

Why are my hands shaking? She wondered. Oh, Keely, get ahold of yourself. It's your family!

She finished her makeup, trying to ignore the increased flurries of butterflies in her stomach. Finally, she just sat there, looking around, thinking…

_Change is good. Change is good. Change is good._

"_Maybe it's not even your cousin moving in that you're worried about…"_

She took a deep breath and nodded at her reflection. "This will be _fun_," she told it, smiling brightly. "It will. I promise."

She paused, a weirded-out expression forming on her face. "I'm talking to my reflection," she realized. Shaking her head, she stood up and left the room.

When she met her mom down in the living room, Mandy was on the phone. Keely looked around at their nearly impeccable house, realizing how funny it was that she and her mother had put so much into cleaning and preparing it. It was just the family, right? Would they care that much how it looked?

Keely, unsure of what else to do, sat down on the couch and began channel surfing as she listened to her mom's conversation.

"Have you passed the Pickford sign yet? You know, the one with the big tomato?" Mandy asked. "When you get past that, you know where to go, don't you?"

Keely looked at the clock on front of her cell phone, extremely tempted to call Phil right then.

"Okay! We'll see you in a few minutes!" Mandy chirped excitedly. She hung up the phone. "Oh, muffin, they're almost here!" She scurried around, dusting everything in sight, arranging all the pictures and knick knacks. Keely chuckled to herself. Finally, she stood.

"Anything else I can help you with, Mom?"

"No, no. I think everything looks good, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Anything look dusty to you? Out of order?"

"Nope."

"What about your school picture over there? Does the frame look crooked to you?"

"Mom, relax." Keely grabbed her mother by the shoulders. "It's Uncle Bob. Not the President."

Mandy smiled. "You're right," she said, sighing. "Thank you, sweetie. I'm losing my head here. Kind of silly, isn't it?"

Keely smiled. "Don't worry about it," she assured her. "I was, uh, kind of doing the same thing."

"You were?" Mandy asked her.

Keely shrugged, sheepishly. "Maybe," she said. "But it's okay now. I'm good. It's just that…"

Outside, the blaring of a horn cut Keely's sentence short. Mandy scurried over to the window, looking outside.

"They're here!" she announced.

Keely raced over behind her mother, peering outside to see a black SUV in the driveway. Her heart leapt.

She and Mandy hurried over to the front door, stopping just short of it. They faced one another.

"How do I look?" Mandy asked, running her hands over her hair and blouse.

"Great, Mom. Me?" Keely prompted, mirroring her mother.

"Beautiful. Now," Mandy announced, "let's go!" She grinned, instilling a new confidence and excitement in Keely. She threw open the front door, and with an arm around her daughter's back, the two of them stepped outside.

"Howdy ho, sis-in-law!" bellowed a warm, deep voice. It was as familiar to Keely as if she'd heard it for the last time just yesterday.

Mandy smiled excitedly, waving as she ran up to the source of the voice. "Robert!" she exclaimed, giving him a hug. Keely giggled as she watched her uncle tower at least several inches above her mom. He returned the hug warmly, nevertheless.

"How have you been?" he asked her. Keely stood back a little, smiling. Her Uncle Bob stood tall as he always had, except now that she herself was taller, he didn't seem like such a giant as she remembered. He had the same sandy colored hair, and as he removed his sunglasses, the same friendly blue eyes. Now, he just had more a little more stubble on his face, tanned from the dry Arizona sun. Behind him, another car door shut.

Mandy pulled away from her brother-in-law, still grinning. "Oh, we've been great. We're so glad you're here, Robert," she said. "How was your trip?"

"Oh, just fine. I have to say, though, people don't seem to be in any hurry around here." He chuckled. Then, he looked up to see Keely.

"Hi, Uncle Bob!" she said cheerfully, holding out her arms for a hug.

"Oh, my. Who is this?" he asked, seeming bewildered. "Mandy…she can't be yours, can she?"

Mandy just giggled. "That's my little Poptart, all right," she replied.

"Well, I'll be. Keely…the little girl with the blonde pigtails and the teddy bear she'd never part with? Look at you!" He pulled Keely into a hug, laughing. "I would hardly call her a 'little' Poptart, Mandy! Golly, she's a woman now!"

Keely felt herself blushing a bit. Her mother patted her arm. "She certainly is," she agreed.

"It's so nice to see you, Uncle Bob," Keely told him. "You… haven't gotten any shorter, that's for sure." She giggled.

"But I haven't gotten any taller, either," he remarked, tapping Keely on the nose. Just like her mother did, just like Phil did. He kissed her cheek. "Nice to see you, little woman. You're beautiful." He smiled. "And speaking of our little women…"

He stepped out of the way, turning to face the car. "Hey, Mellie," he called.

Keely suddenly remembered the car's other occupant, and the second door she had heard shut behind her uncle. She saw a movement behind the vehicle, and then, the back hood closed.

From around the back of the car stepped a teenage girl, weighted down by a large duffel bag. The first thing Keely noticed about her was her long, blonde hair, spilling down around her shoulders in waves, like a golden waterfall. It was pulled halfway back, leaving a couple of tendrils curling down around her face.

And she was very pretty; Keely noticed this next. Her heart-shaped face framed gorgeous, bright green eyes lined in brown eye pencil and long, curled lashes, the perfect button nose, and rosy lips. There was something very simple and all-American about her, but something striking all the same. She stood nearly as tall as Keely herself, and shared her petite figure, dressed in denim cutoff shorts and brown and white layered tank tops, the color setting off her summer tan.

She was definitely someone different from the little blonde-haired marshmallow thief Keely recalled from so many years ago…the one unchanged factor being the blonde hair.

"Here she is," Uncle Bob announced to Mandy and Keely. "My not-so-little Melody Amanda." He put an arm around his daughter, smiling proudly. She rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Dad," she muttered, the smallest traces of a smile on her lips.

Mandy smiled, placing her hands on Melody's upper arms. "Oh, I can't believe this. It's so wonderful to see you again, sweetheart. Oh my, look how pretty you are!" She hugged her niece tightly after the exclamation similar to Robert's. "How do they grow up so fast?" she muttered.

Uncle Bob just laughed. "Can't figure it out myself, Mandy."

When Mandy and Melody separated, Mandy stepped out of the way, looking over at Keely. She put a hand on Keely's arm.

"Can you believe it's your cousin?" she asked excitedly.

Keely looked at Melody, and Melody looked at Keely. Both smiled, shyly at first. Something registered on Melody's face which Keely quickly tried to decipher.

She looked kind of…afraid. Maybe. Just for a second.

Keely grinned, as warmly as she could. "Hey, Melody," she said brightly. "It's awesome to see you again." She hoped she wasn't wearing out the phrase.

"Hey, Keely." Melody grinned, tucking some hair behind her ear. "You, too. It's been awhile."

Uncle Bob put his arm around Melody's shoulder, smiling. "It has," he agreed. "Too long. Luckily, we've got ourselves a while to catch up now." He chuckled. "Once again, Mandy, I can't thank you enough for doing this for us…it means the world…"

"Oh, Robert, don't worry a bit about it. You know we're more than excited to have you both here." She smiled. "Why don't we all head inside? It's getting awful hot out here…"

Keely turned to her cousin and uncle. "Do you need any help carrying in bags?"

"Sure, Keely. Thanks very much," her uncle responded.

"No problem." Keely walked around to the back of the car, opening the hood. Her mom followed. The interior was stuffed with bags and belongings, and she guessed that the rest had yet to come.

Looking at all of it, she felt a pang of sadness for Bob and Melody. _But everything should work out now, _she reminded herself quickly.

_Change is good_.

Inside the cool, air-conditioned house, Keely and Mandy set instantly to getting their family settled in. Keely helped carry their bags to the guest room, while Mandy got glasses of lemonade for everyone.

After a couple more trips outside, Keely noticed the bags piling up to quite a large amount within the room. At this rate, there was hardly walking space.

"You're well prepared, aren't you?" Mandy commented to her brother-in-law, gazing at all of their belongings.

"Yeah, I guess we did a good job of that, didn't we?" Uncle Bob smiled. He accepted the glass of lemonade from Mandy, quickly downing half of it. Melody thanked Mandy for hers, taking a few sips. Both she and her father looked tired from the drive…and on top of everything else, they seemed to be handling it quite well.

Keely took another look at all of their bags.

"Hey, Melody," she began. "Since you guys have so much stuff…you could take yours and stay in my room, if you wanted to."

Melody wiped her upper lip with her hand, then looked quickly from her father to Keely, as if surprised.

"Oh…really?" she responded. "O-okay. Thanks." Her face lit up in a smile that was part shy, part polite. It was funny; Keely never remembered her as being very shy. Then again, a lot had changed since then.

"No problem," Keely told her. "I'll help you move up there." She took a couple of the bags. "Right this way," she said cheerfully, leading her cousin towards the stairs.

Once upstairs, Keely kicked open her bedroom doorway, leading the way inside. Gently, she placed the bags down at the foot of her bed, then stood up, brushing her hands together. She turned to her cousin.

"So, uh," she began, motioning around with her hands. "My bedroom." She laughed. Melody did the same.

"It's cute," she told Keely. She began to gaze around. "Lots of pictures."

"Oh, yeah," Keely nodded. "I guess I'm into that."

Melody nodded, tugging at her necklace. "I had a lot of pictures back in my room in Tuscon, too," she said, her jade eyes trailing the walls. "Pictures of friends and stuff…"

Keely nodded, as a silence grew between them. She bit her lip, glancing at the far-off expression on Melody's face.

_Oh, no_, Keely thought. _She must feel awful about that…_ _What if that happened to me? What if…I had to leave Phil? What if I never knew when I'd see him again? _

_Oh, wait. That _did _almost happen._

Keely took a deep breath, suddenly very tempted to see him …but for right now, she was determined to make her cousin more comfortable in any way she could.

Her eyes fell onto the necklace that Melody was gently playing with. At the end of a delicate chain around her neck hung a glistening silver half-heart. Just a half. Perhaps subconsciously, Melody held onto it tightly as her eyes wandered.

"That's a neat necklace," Keely piped up. "Is that…half of a heart?"

Melody snapped out of it, looking at Keely, then down at her neck. "Oh, yeah," she replied, nodding. She looked down at it, giving it a tug. "I got it on my fourteenth birthday…from my mom. She has the other half. I don't ever take it off."

Keely swallowed hard. She remembered again, amidst all the excitement, why her uncle and cousin were here.

She pushed any thoughts that would dampen the mood out of her mind. "That's really cool," she told her cousin, genuinely.

Finally, Melody nodded. "Yeah," she said, her voice coming louder, more confidently. She tossed some bouncy hair back over her shoulder.

"So…you uh, wanna take a break from luggage carrying?" Keely suggested. "I could show you around the house, and then we could just…chill." She smiled.

Melody nodded. "Cool. Let's do it."

"Cool." Keely nodded. Silently, both of them left the cheery bedroom.

About forty-five minutes later, all four Teslows relaxed on the living room couches, lemonade in hand. Melody and Uncle Bob sat on the loveseat, and Keely and her mom took the couch. As Mandy and Bob discussed Pickford's bustling tomato industry, Keely and Melody sat quietly, listening in, at least halfway. For the better part of the discussion, Melody looked puzzled.

Trying to bite back her laughter, Keely suddenly felt a buzzing against her leg. She jumped, but quickly recognized the sensation as the vibrating of her cell phone. Quietly, she took it out of her pocket, and discovered a text message waiting from Phil. Her heart fluttered.

She discreetly flipped open her phone and read the message. 'Good morning, sunshine!' he'd written. 'Is the family there yet?'

She smiled, texting back quickly. As she did, she noticed the conversation turning over to the school subject.

"So Melody, you'll be starting at H.G. Wells Jr./Sr. High with Keely next month," Uncle Bob told his daughter.

"Junior-senior?" she asked. "Does that mean, like, little kids and older kids all mixed in with each other?"

"Kind of," Mandy explained. "The 'little kids' aren't really that little…seventh grade at youngest." She smiled. "It's just like a junior high and a high school all in one. Right, muffin?" she nudged Keely.

"Oh, yeah. Yep." Keely looked up quickly, smiling and nodding.

Melody nodded. "I see," she said indifferently. "Interesting." She twisted some hair around her finger contemplatively.

There was a short pause in the conversation, which Keely noticed as she hung up her phone. In less than ten minutes, she would get to see Phil again. She prayed for time to fly.

"Ooh!" Mandy said suddenly, as if she'd just remembered. "Is anyone hungry? I could make sandwiches, salad, anything you want."

"You know, a turkey sandwich does sound great right about now," Uncle Bob commented. "You hungry, Mellie?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I could eat something," she replied.

"Oh, wonderful. I'll go and make us something. Muffin, what about you?" Mandy asked Keely, standing up.

"Sure, a sandwich sounds good. Thanks, Mom." She smiled.

Uncle Robert followed Mandy into the kitchen. As they left, Melody stood up. "I think I'm gonna go upstairs and unpack some of my stuff, if that's okay," she told Keely.

Keely smiled. "Oh, sure," she replied. "Go ahead."

Melody turned and made her exit. Keely sat back on the couch, sighing. After about a second of silence, her mom called to her from the kitchen. "Keely, sweetie, what do you want on your sandwich?" she asked.

Keely stood up. "I'll come and help you, Mom," she called.

Several minutes later, as Keely andher motherwere up to their elbows in lettuce and tomatoes and Uncle Bob inhaled his turkey sandwich, Melody came back into the kitchen.

"Hey, honey. Want a sandwich?" her dad asked her.

"Sure," she responded. "Do you have peanut butter and jelly?"

"Of course," Mandy grinned. "What's an American household without those?"

Amidst the buzz of the kitchen during lunchtime rush, the sound of the doorbell could all of a sudden be heard.

"I'll get— " Keely and Mandy began to say at the same time, stopping themselves when they realized that their hands were preoccupied with sandwich condiments. They looked at each other, then in towards the living room. Uncle Bob spoke up.

"Melody," he told his daughter through a half mouthful of sandwich, "since you're closest right now, sweetie, do you think you could get the door for your aunt and cousin…?"

Melodypaused for a beat, then shrugged. "Okay," she replied, smiling politely. Keely watched her walk into the living room, then glanced at her mother. Grabbing a dishtowel, she wiped down her hands.

In the entryway, Melody glanced out through the side window, but couldn't tell who was outside. Shrugging, she swung the door open.

Phil looked up as it opened, and his face broke into a smile. "Hey, Kee—" He stopped himself mid-sentence.

The blonde in the doorway gazed back at him, just as clueless as he was. After a moment, though, a small grin formed on her lips. "Hel_lo_," she greeted him, her smile growing. She crossed her arms over her chest.

Phil raised an eyebrow, his mouth hanging halfway open. "Um…" He shook his head, examining the girl who was grinning at him from Keely's front door.

Suddenly, it clicked.

"Ah!" he replied. "You must be the cousin. Keely's cousin. Right?"

She nodded. "That's me. And you…?" She smiled, leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm, uh—"

"Phil!" Keely's more familiar face appeared behind her cousin, and she smiled broadly. She looked back and forth from Melody to Phil, then laughed to herself.

"So, you've met my cousin Melody," she commented. "Come on in, Phil. Melody, this is…well, Phil." She smiled.

"I know," Melody replied, grinning at him.

"Nice to meet you, Melody," Phil told her, smiling and holding out his hand courteously.

Melody giggled, shaking it. "You too, Phil."

Keely saw the expression on her cousin's face, and glanced up at Phil, who raised his eyebrows discreetly. She cleared her throat.

"Phil…Phil's my boyfriend," she added, casually. "Slash best friend." Phil nodded in agreement.

Melody looked back and forth between the Phil and Keely. "Ohhhh." She nodded. "I get it." She smiled again. For the first time, Keely saw her cousin's full-out grin, which flashed two rows of perfectly straight white teeth. It was cute and very genuine, but now, Keely had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the situation.

"Aha," Melody said, snapping her fingers. "So you must be the guy in all the pictures in her room." She lightly jabbed her thumb towards Keely.

Phil looked over at Keely, then smiled, nodding. Keely nodded along with him.

"That'd be Phil."

Melody shrugged. "Well, that makes sense, 'cause she has more pictures of you than, like, anything." She laughed. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Phil. If you'll excuse me though, gotta go fill up on PB&J." She waved, then turned abruptly and made her exit, blonde waves bouncing behind her.

Keely and Phil exchanged a glance. Phil's eyes were wide, his eyebrows raised. Keely laughed, giving him a hug.

"She's…friendly," he concluded.

Keely grabbed him by the hand, smiling. "Well, no one said that was a bad thing," she told him.

"That must have been before 'no one' met my sister," Phil remarked.

Keely laughed. "Uh-oh," she replied. "Comparing my cousin to Pim?"

He paused. "Okay, you're right…that's not fair to her," he decided.

Keely hit him lightly in the stomach. "C'mon, goofball. Come meet her other half. And have a sandwich while you're at it."

……………….

**Well, guys. This is sort of a difficult thing to do without explaining, since it's just in story form and not actually playing out on a screen, so that's what I'll do.**

**You've met Melody now, and like I've said before – first off, this is my idea of how a third season of Phil could end up working out so everyone is satisfied and nothing else has to get in the way of POTF being continued, and second, you'd "met" this character before you even read the chapter. How's that though, you wonder?**

**Take into consideration everything written about Melody **Amanda** Teslow. Some of you may get it now, but if you're still confused, go back and read some of the chapterover, and that might help.**

**The person I believe Melody to be is someone you know pretty well. 'Cuz if you know Alyson Michalka, you must know AJ:) **

**Got it?**

**Now, wouldn't it be nice if they could just do it like this?**

**Yeah, I thought so too, taking into consideration what they WANT to do. **

**Soooo, tell me what you think! I'm on a four day weekend now, so besides Easter, there's a little more time to write. Yayyyy yeahhh! Stick with me, guys! (As if you weren't already…I LOVE YOU FOR IT!)**

**Love,**

**ME**


	8. I Love Their Timing

**Okay, don't get bored too quickly with Pim's separate plots, because that's just the…umm, I dunno, buttering up? If you got what I was trying to say there, you totally get a cookie or something.**

**It would be too tedious and difficult to write like that the whole time, so it won't always be that way, like it sometimes is in the show. Just wait :) **

**And I'm very sorry about the no updates for a while thing. Life happened, school happened, finals are almost happening…you know, that kinda stuff. Almost summer:) **

**Anyway, this should be interesting… I'll stop talking so you can read read read :)**

**Chapter 8**

"Right foot blue, left hand green," Keely called out. She looked up, biting back a giggle fiercely.

"Aha!" Mandy exclaimed. "Would ya look at me! I'm on a roll! Goooo Mandy!" She laughed aloud, her face bright red as a result of being upside down.

"Oh, not so fast, Mand. You're forgetting that I was runner-up in the National Twister Finals back in my college days!" Robert retorted.

Melody, lounging in the armchair, screwed up her face in confusion, watching her father and aunt stumble over each other on the white, color-spotted mat spread out on the Teslows' living room floor. Slight mortification tainted her features. "The National _Twister _Finals, Dad?"

Keely held the spinner on her lap, stealing a glance at Phil. From his position beside her on the couch, both their feet resting placidly on the coffee table that had been shoved up right in front of them to make room for the game, she saw the corner of his mouth turn up. That was Phil's "laughing on the inside" face.

Melody raised an eyebrow. "What the heck are the National—"

Robert chuckled, stretching out an arm as far as he could to pat his daughter's leg. "Try not to ruin my glory, honey," he remarked, jokingly. Melody just looked baffled.

"Your old dad still has some of the spark in him, let me tell you…WHOA!" At the perfect moment, he lost his balance, falling to a heap on the mat.

"HA! HA, HA, HA!" Mandy shouted, still holding out her incredibly uncomfortable looking position, causing Keely to jump and place one hand over her ear. "WHO'S THE TWISTER CHAMP NOW! WOOOHOOOOO!"

"Oh, my..." Keely looked down at her lap, unsure of whether she should burst into laughter or hide her face.

"What a way to spend the first day of a family reunion, eh?" Phil whispered.

"Oh, yeah, this is exactly how I pictured it." She giggled, but watched her victorious mother warily, as if she and her excited outburst (although Keely had grown accustomed to her still having a lot of pep left over from her cheerleading days) were a threat to society. Across the room, Melody's expression showed the same.

Finally, though, Mandy sat down on the mat, sighing. "Good game, Robert. Now, anyone else feeling…flexible?" she challenged the three teenagers in the room.

"Oh, uh, no, no…" All of their declines came at once. Keely laughed. "No thanks, Mom. You're a tough component." She set the spinner down on the coffee table.

"Well, okay then." Mandy laughed. "Whew, that was quite the game. I'm beat."

"I'll say." Robert rubbed his neck stiffly. "I forgot that I'm not 21 anymore. That was a few years ago." He grinned goofily. Melody rolled her eyes.

"Well!" Mandy proclaimed, standing up to her full five foot and a few inches. "It's almost dinnertime already! What do you say instead of cooking here, we all go out to eat, to celebrate Melody and Robert's first night with us?" She smiled at the group.

"Well, Mandy, I think that'd be great," Uncle Robert replied. He stood up too, with some difficulty at first, but straightened himself out. "Mel, what do you say?"

"Cool." She nodded. "Will I have time to get ready, though? 'Cause it was a looong drive and it's, like, way hot out." She fanned herself off with her hand.

"Of course you'll have some time, honey," Mandy assured her. "Keely needs her time to beautify, too." She winked. Keely smiled, a little awkwardly.

"Yeah…kind of makes me wonder what you guys _really_ look like," Phil joked.

Melody smiled, and Keely laughed, poking his side. "Please, Phil," she remarked quietly. "You've seen me at my worst."

"Funny, I don't remember a 'worst'." He smiled at her.

She tried to roll her eyes at him, but she found herself grinning back. She took his hand gently.

"Well, what's everyone in the mood for?" Mandy asked cheerily.

"I'm up for just about anything," Robert responded. "What's good around here?"

"Well, we've got a great Chinese place, and a cute little Italian bistro on Seventh Street, oh, and there's also this nice little German restaurant called Otto's Pink Pig…"

"Oh, we love Italian food!" Robert said enthusiastically.

"Great! And Phil, you're invited too, so please come with us," Mandy added happily. "What do you guys think about Italian?"

Keely nodded. "I could go for that." She smiled.

"I'm really up for anything," Phil agreed. "And thank you for inviting me."

"Oh, honey, it's no problem at all." She smiled. "So, Giordano's Bistro it is!"

"I'll just call home to make sure it's okay," Phil said, taking out his cell phone. He quickly dialed the familiar number, waiting as it rang. "I'm sure it will be. Oh, hi…Pim? Is Mom there?" He paused. "Well…can I _talk _to her? Wait, what are you doing? No, you can't use my…uh…_computer_ for that." He glanced at Keely quickly. "Listen, just give Mom the phone, okay? Yeah. Thanks." He rolled his eyes. "My younger sister," he explained to anyone in the room who wasn't already familiar with her antics.

Keely rolled her eyes knowingly. She pushed the coffee table out of her way, then stood up.

"Okay. I will. Thanks, Mom. Bye." Phil flipped his phone shut, shoving it back into his pocket. "She says it's okay. She wanted me to tell everyone hi, too."

Keely smiled. "Your mom's so nice."

"Yeah," Phil replied. "Just one reason I have trouble believing that my sister _came _from her."

Melody chuckled. "Maybe it's not so bad being an only child," she remarked.

"Count your blessings. Both of you." Phil smiled from Keely to Melody.

"Oh, Phil." Keely laughed. "You don't mind hanging out for a little bit while I get ready, do you?"

Phil stood up. "Waiting through a little primping time never killed anybody," he replied, with an adorable grin. When a guy has a sister and a girlfriend who's his best friend, it's nothing he's not used to.

"Awesome." Keely turned to leave, then paused. "Oh, Melody. You know where the shower is, right?" she asked kindly.

"I'm pretty sure." Melody nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." Keely smiled at her mom and uncle. "I won't be long," she promised them, as she and Phil headed up to her room.

Melody watched them go. She watched Phil place his hand gently on Keely's lower back as they left the room, she watched Keely's face light up as she looked back at him.

She looked down at her lap, at the summer-tanned legs and cut-off shorts she'd brought all the way from Arizona, and tried to sort out her thoughts. She gave her necklace a tug, and then went to get ready.

…………

She paused just short of the door, checking both directions over her shoulder. She could still hear her mom and dad in the kitchen, but she could never be too sure.

Pim was clever, but Mom had a knack for outwitting her anyway.

She finally reached Phil's door, checking the knob to make sure it wasn't locked. It swung open gently. With one final check over her shoulder, she slipped inside.

She wasn't supposed to be in here. Permission had been denied.

But what part of that did he think was going to stop her?

"Now," she whispered to herself, "if I were Phil…ugh,_ just_ speaking hypothetically …where would I keep my Replicator?"

She moved quietly around the perimeter of his room, checking in drawers, on his desk, under his pillow. Throwing it back down, she coughed. "Holy moly, Phil, enough cologne?"

Out in the hallway, she heard her mom's voice.

"I'm just taking some of Phil's laundry into his room, sweetie," she yelled to Lloyd. "I'll be right down to show you how to work the blender the_ right_ way!"

Pim froze. "Rat snacks." Her baby blue eyes darted around frantically. Her mother's footsteps drew closer and closer.

Throwing up her hands in defeat, she dropped down to the floor, hidden from her mother's view by Phil's bed.

"They've always gotta make things harder around here," she mumbled.

Just as the words left her lips, she caught sight of an object that lay just a few feet out of her reach, almost on the other side of the bed. Her eyes brightened. "Bingo!" she whispered, reaching for it.

Barb appeared in the doorway then, glancing around Phil's room as she entered. Humming quietly, she placed a basket of his laundry at the foot of his bed. She glanced at a picture on Phil's nightstand – him wrapping his arms around Keely from behind, both of them wearing huge, brilliant grins. She smiled fondly, arranging it just right. "Aww," she said quietly.

Pim watched her feet from underneath her brother's bed, tensing up as they got closer. The Replicator lay barely an inch away from them. _If I could just grab ahold of it… _she thought.

Just then, Barb swiveled around. Pim watched her leave the room, humming on her way out.

Pim released the breath she'd been holding. "About time." Stretching as far as she could, she finally grabbed the Replicator and pulled it over. Maneuvering out of her hiding spot, she stood up.

"Yeahhhh," she laughed to herself, nodding proudly.

She glanced at Phil's desk, noticing a haphazard stack of magazines sitting on top. She hurried over to it, sifting through them. She picked up some kind of ridiculous-looking sports magazine, picturing some kind of soccer player on the front.

She shrugged. "Mom thinks Pim needs a buddy this summer, and she's probably right." She smiled. "I love when things are this easy."

Flipping through until she found a page about a girls' soccer team, she nodded thoughtfully, pressed a button, and ran a blue ray over the page.

……..

Three teenagers and two adults, stuffed with spaghetti, breadsticks and mastaccioli, sat sprawled on the couches of the Teslow living room.

Keely sat next to Phil, who was absentmindedly winding the end of her sparkly headscarf around his finger. Mandy sat on the other side of her, and they faced Melody and Robert, who sat together on the other couch.

"That's the thing about little towns like this," Uncle Bob said pleasingly. "Everyone seems to have their place. There's just…an atmosphere here. Nobody rushes. Things don't change so quickly." He smiled. "I think it's just what Mellie and I need right now." He put an arm around his daughter.

Melody looked up at him. She nodded, slowly, as if it had been rehearsed. Like that's what was expected of her. Then, she shrugged.

"Sure," she responded. "The city of Tuscon has nothing on…Pickford." She concentrated indifferently on the pattern in the denim of her jeans, tracing it with a finger.

Keely gave Phil a sideways look, then let her eyes wander over to her mother. Only briefly did they make eye contact before Keely let her eyes retreat to her lap again, perplexed.

The silence hung in the air for a few seconds.

"Well," Mandy finally said, "change isn't always bad. Right?"

Keely felt Phil's fingers loop through hers.

Melody just looked up at her dad. "I'm kind of tired," she commented. "I might just…turn in, if that's okay with you guys." Her eyes were now on the rest of them.

Keely watched her warily.

"Well, it has been a long day," her father responded. "Maybe that's a good idea."

"You're right," Mandy agreed. "Do you need any help getting settled? Finding anything?"

"I think I'm okay. Goodnight, everyone. 'Night, Dad." She leaned in and gave her father a kiss on the cheek, which he returned.

"Goodnight, Mellie," he responded.

"Goodnight," the rest of them chorused.

She turned to go. Keely watched her long blonde waves settle with every movement.

After her departure from the room, a strange silence seemed to have found its way in again.

Keely looked at Phil, almost desperate. How he could help this situation, she wasn't sure, but she figured he was her best bet.

He cleared his throat. "I'd better be getting home pretty soon, too," he commented, still holding Keely's hand gently.

Mandy nodded. "It is getting late, isn't it?" she asked, looking at her watch.

"I might need to hit the sack soon myself," Uncle Bob replied.

"Phil, do you want me to walk home with you?" Keely asked.

"Oh, yeah, that'd be nice." He smiled. Keely returned it, her conscious feeling instantly lighter.

Both of them stood up. Keely reached for her jacket from the couch, and Phil helped her shrug into it.

"Keely, honey," Mandy told her, "I'm going to go help your uncle get settled in. I'd be happy to take Phil home instead, if you can wait a few minutes."

Phil and Keely looked at one another. Phil shrugged.

Keely turned to her mom. "Thanks, Mom."

Mandy smiled in response.

"Well, goodnight, Keely," Uncle Bob said. He approached her, holding out his arms for a hug, which she accepted. "Mellie and I had a wonderful first day in Pickford, thanks to you and your momma." He smiled.

_You did, at least… _she thought. "You're welcome, Uncle Bob," she told him. "I'm so glad I got to see you guys again."

Before leaving the room, he also shook hands with Phil. "I'm glad to see our Keely gets treated so well," Bob thanked him, grinning.

"No problem at all, sir," he responded, genuinely. At the way he said it, Keely felt her heart flutter.

"Goodnight," Keely said to her uncle, before he and Mandy left the room.

Their voices faded off, and the silence of the living room surrounded Phil and Keely.

"So," Keely said finally, as she played casually with her scarf. "How's the weather look tomorrow?"

Phil laughed heartedly.

Keely looked up at him, not expecting his response, but smiling at it.

"I don't know for sure, but I think," he answered, stepping closer to her, "I heard something about a ninety percent chance of stress lines in a really pretty forehead." He tapped Keely's gently.

Keely laughed. "Ninety-eight percent?" She looked down at her hands. "That low?"

"Oh, Keel." Phil smiled, tugging absently on the end of her braid. "I'm really wishing I could do something to help you."

She nodded, deep in thought.

"Anything?" Phil prompted quietly.

She smiled. Slowly, she turned away.

"Okay… or, you could just walk away," he laughed. "Where ya goin' Keel?"

"You wanted to know what'd make me feel better," she replied. "Come get me and you'll find out."

Phil raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, no," he laughed. "I think I've done my share of trying to get you, Keel. About two years' worth." Smiling, he slowly followed her anyway.

She looked at him over her shoulder, beaming. "And it looks like you're going to make me do more flirting on top of _my_ two years' worth," she shot back. "Before you come over here and kiss me."

"Oh, _that's_ what this is all about?" She could hear the joke in his voice.

Keely just laughed. "Okay…I'll stop," she forfeited, walking back towards her boyfriend. "I have to admit, I hate playing hard to get."

"Seriously? Because you do an awesome job of it," he assured her. "Kind of…um, drives me crazy…" He felt a small blush rise in his cheeks.

Keely bit her lip, finally reaching for his hand. In the background, they could hear her mother's laughter.

"You still get your kiss," she told him softly.

He almost did.

Then the doorbell rang.

Keely drew back, looking towards it.

"Oh, I love their timing," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Phil chuckled.

Puzzled, Keely walked over towards the door. Phil hung back, watching curiously. He fumbled with his cell phone.

A look out the side window just gave Keely a view of her darkened front yard. So, flipping on the porch light, she pulled open the door.

The man pushed up the brim of his hat, meeting her eyes from underneath it. The porch light gave her a dim view of his face.

She froze.

For a second the man didn't say anything; he just looked back at her.

Then, he broke the silence.

"Keely?"

Had he not phrased that as a question, she wouldn't have even known how to respond.

Her hand, still on the doorknob, felt like it was shaking. Without warning, her heart rate climbed.

Completely without warning.

"Yes," she said finally. Her voice didn't sound like it belonged to her.

"H-hi…Dad?"


	9. Sing Me Anything

_**Here's your next chapter! Yeah there was a delay… final exams will do that to ya sometimes. **_

* * *

****

Phil nearly dropped his cell phone. _What?_

Nobody spoke.

The man outside the door finally removed his hat, a straw cowboy hat. The same sandy colored hair her Uncle Bob had glinted in the porch light. It was shaggy, sun-streaked.

"Well…look at this," Mr. Teslow said finally, looking bewildered. He couldn't have been nearly as much so as Keely was, though, hand still frozen on the doorknob, mouth slightly ajar. "It's really you. Keely Renae." He laughed to himself. "Look at you."

Keely felt the previous morning repeating itself, only now, her mouth had run dry.

"Y-yeah," she said, much more quietly than she'd anticipated. "It's…me." She drew in the first actual breath she'd taken since she had answered the door. "And it's…you."

Keely realized suddenly that he'd been standing on her front porch for nearly a full minute, and she hadn't invited him in. Her brain wasn't exactly working up to its usual standards right now.

"Um, co-come in," she encouraged her father, attempting a smile. It even felt fake.

She looked back over her shoulder at Phil, who stood motionless, his eyes tinged with disbelief. He wanted to help her, she could tell. He wanted to do something. He just couldn't think of what.

She looked back at her dad as he stepped inside, and for the first time, it hit her. This was her first time seeing him in _four years. _

Now, he was looking at her as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Like she was still supposed to be a skinny twelve-year-old with braces.

In the span of a few short seconds, she was able to take in his appearance, if nothing else. He had some stubble, he looked like he had spent a whole lot of time in the sun, and he was still so tall, over six and a half feet. She knew it was from him that she got her height, putting her even over her mother.

Was it from him that she also got her inability to come up with anything to say right now?

He finally took a deep breath, smiling. "Oh, honey," he said. "You're so pretty."

She felt searing lump of tears fighting its way up in her throat. _Oh Keely, not now…_

Before she knew what was happening, her father wrapped his strong arms around her and hugged her. He smelled like…something that wasn't familiar.

She didn't like how she felt about it.

She returned the hug, praying that any extreme show of emotion could hold itself off until later. "Thank you," she managed.

"Oh, my…" came another voice from behind them.

Keely pulled away, recognizing the voice instantly with a strange flutter of her heart that she couldn't identify. As soon as she saw her mother's face, though, she recognized it.

She watched as her mom stood in the same room as her dad for the first time in years.

As Mandy stepped forward, Keely moved instinctively over beside Phil. When her eyes met his, he immediately began rubbing her arm gently. He looked back over at her parents, watching them in surprise.

"Mandy," Mr. Teslow said quietly. "I'm…I'm happy to see you again." His eyes fluttered quickly over to his daughter, then back to her mom.

Mandy straightened her shoulders. "Hi, Greg," she greeted him softly.

They didn't hug, but they smiled.

Mandy cleared her throat. "Well, what brings you in…tonight?" she asked, looking puzzled.

"Oh, I just…I figured I'd surprise everyone. I left early today, but I didn't expect my car to break down and to get stuck at the worst mechanic shop in California." He shrugged apologetically, laughing to himself.

Keely looked from her mom to her dad.

"Oh, well," Mandy replied. "It's…it's not a big deal, really. I just wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"I'm sorry to just show up like this," he continued. "I know it's a surprise. It's late now…I'll just go check into a hotel until tomorrow morning. Are Robert and Melody here yet?"

"Yes, they're here, but you missed them," Mandy explained. "They both went to bed."

"Oh. Okay." Greg Teslow nodded. "Well, that's okay. I'll catch them in the morning." He paused a moment.

For the first time, he noticed the dark-haired boy in close contact with his daughter. He stood discreetly and quietly beside Keely, their hands gently clasped together. His thoughtful brown eyes were cast towards Keely, who was gazing downwards, until he noticed her dad looking.

"Well, how rude of me," he commented. "I didn't notice someone else was here. Are you a friend?"

Keely squeezed Phil's hand tighter. "Yeah," she replied, before Phil could gather his head together enough to do it for himself. "He's my best friend." She suddenly found it difficult to look at her father.

"Oh." He nodded, extending a hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, uh…"

"Phil," he responded, shaking it. He glanced sideways at Keely, trying to read into her thoughts. Sometimes he was good at this, and sometimes he wasn't. Like…now, for instance.

"Hi, Phil," Greg said politely. His gaze fell downwards, and Phil could feel it right on his and Keely's hands.

Their fingers weren't intertwined, but Phil cupped Keely's fingers gently in his hand, just a light grasp, as if he were going to lead her somewhere. Right at that moment, as a short awkward paused took over them all, he wished he could lead her in a break for the front door.

Her dad saw their hands, and Phil knew he knew.

It didn't bother him, but he couldn't say that Keely felt the same.

"I was just about to give Phil a ride home," Mandy said suddenly. Both teenagers were glad to have something to look towards, rather than awkwardly at the floor. "Keely was going to ride with me. I'll tell you what…why don't you just save the trouble of checking into a hotel and stay here tonight? You could stay in the living room on the pull out couch. I hope that would be okay."

"Oh, well, yeah," Greg said, sounding surprised. "Of course it would. Thanks, Mandy. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Mandy smiled. Finally she looked over at her daughter and Phil. "Are you two ready?"

"Yeah." Their replies came at the same time, and Keely giggled at Phil, trying to rid herself of the strange feeling she couldn't shake.

As she and Phil slipped towards the door, she heard her mom telling her dad to make himself at home. She looked back over her shoulder as Phil held the door open for her, just in time to meet eyes with him. He smiled at his daughter, and she smiled back. She had to look away quickly though, as she was surprised by fresh tears that sprung up before she expected them.

She did her best to keep her face turned downwards as Phil slipped his hand back into hers. She expected him to say something; to lean over and gently, quietly whisper into her ear. He didn't. He just held her hand.

…………………….

Keely kissed her mom goodnight and tiptoed gently down the hall. Her father had fallen asleep downstairs on the pull out bed more quickly than either one of them expected, but it made sense after a hot day of driving, she guessed.

As her mom's bedroom door closed gently behind her, Keely placed her hand on the knob of her own door. Turning it, she prepared to push it open as quietly as possible.

Then she heard the music.

It was a sound she knew very well; the soft, quiet strumming of guitar strings. The tune was even, smooth and well-practiced…a song she wasn't familiar with, but beautiful, enough to make her pause a moment before entering.

Then she heard the voice. It surprised her, blending in just perfectly with the strumming of the guitar.

"_Suddenly I'm all alone…pushed away from nothing wrong…" _

The voice was like velvet, smooth and soft, but rougher in just the right places. It flowed flawlessly over the notes.

"_Don't you have the guts to say how you feel about me?"_

Keely paused, wondering if she should go in. Her hand tightened on the knob.

"_Out of the blue…"_

She decided to knock instead. She felt weird, considering it was her own room, but nonetheless, she tapped gently on the door with one finger.

The strumming stopped, and the velvety voice was now a quiet, near whisper. "Come in."

Keely opened the door, and watched as Melody gently set her guitar down beside her on the air mattress that was serving as her bed for the time being. She smiled humbly, tugging at the end of her blonde ringlets, which had been hastily pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck.

"Hey." Keely smiled at her as she shut her bedroom door. "I…didn't think you were still awake."

"Yeah." Melody shrugged. "Funny. As tired as I thought I was after today, I couldn't get to sleep."

Keely laughed. "Yeah. Today was…something else."

"Kinda," Melody agreed, knowing that it was an understatement.

Keely gazed around the room, before finally letting her eyes settle back on Melody's guitar. "You play too?" She smiled.

Melody looked down at it. "Oh, yeah." Her face brightened a little. "You do?"

"Mhm." Keely smiled. "I mean, how good I am depends on your point of view I guess, but I've been at it for about three years." She giggled.

"Really? I've been playing for about three too. That's weird!" Melody gently lowered it into its case, next to the mattress, and closed it. "My parents gave it to me on my tenth birthday. I was so stoked." She latched the case closed. "I don't know how good I am either, but I really love it." She smiled thoughtfully.

"Me too." Keely grinned. "My mom signed me up for lessons, but I only took them for a few months before I decided I had more fun teaching myself. I even tried teaching her." Keely laughed at the memory. "She must not have passed on any musical talents to me."

Melody chuckled. "Must be from your dad, then," she commented.

Keely paused, looking at her cousin. "My dad?"

"Yeah." Melody nodded simply. "Uncle Greg is really into music. He's great on the guitar. Dad says he's really into songwriting, too...and singing. My dad isn't as good on the guitar as your dad is, but he plays the drums pretty well." She looked up at Keely. "He said they used to play together a lot."

Keely felt lost in thought, the colors of her bedspread blending together in front of her. She blinked, shaking herself out of it. "Huh," she muttered ponderingly, more to herself than anyone else. "I guess that's it."

"What?" Melody asked, as she pulled her hair from its ponytail holder and began to braid it.

"Oh. Uh, nothing. I just…that's cool. I…I didn't know." She stood up, grabbing a brush from her dresser and running it through her hair, wavy from the braid.

"So, that song that you were just playing," Keely continued, pulling herself back to reality. "Did you write it?"

Melody pulled her blanket up over her, propping herself up on her elbow. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I just finished it during the car ride here, actually."

"Awesome." Keely smiled. "You know…for the record, what you said about being good or not…you are. You really sounded incredible, from what I heard."

"Really?" Melody brushed a hair out of her eyes, grinning. "Thank you. That's nice to hear."

"No problem," Keely replied, slipping underneath her covers.

Both girls were quiet for a moment.

"Oh, by the way," Keely said quietly, "I thought you were sleeping and figured you would find out in the morning, but…my dad is here. Now. Downstairs. He just showed up tonight."

"Seriously?" Melody asked, looking surprised. "Why'd he come tonight?"

Keely shrugged. "I don't know. He's just…here."

"Oh." Melody eyed her cousin for a moment. "That's…cool." She phrased it almost like a question.

Keely just pulled her covers up over her shoulders, her eyes meeting a framed picture of she and Phil on her nightstand. His arm around her shoulder pulled her close to him, and she was laughing so hard.

"Cool," she repeated, focusing as hard as possible on the warmest brown eyes she knew.

She reached out and switched off her light.

After a few seconds, Melody finally whispered in the dark. "It's so quiet downstairs. Are you sure he's here?"

"Yeah, he is. Mom put him on the pull out couch." It sounded so careless and discourteous the way she said it. It almost made her laugh.

_Good. I need to laugh. _

"Oh, okay." Melody yawned. "I haven't seen him in almost a month…" Her speech was getting lazier, quieter. She was beginning to doze off.

Almost a month. Keely found that funny. She hadn't seen her dad in, oh, about four years. Her long lost cousin had seen him a month ago.


	10. We Kind of, Maybe, Sort of Like to Party

Her blonde hair was sweaty and windblown, her shirt had a smear of mud across the front, and she was breathing heavily.

"Over here!" she yelled, waving her arms. She jumped from foot to foot, energy pulsing through her, looking like she'd never stop.

Pim stood with her arms folded over her chest, watching her with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, wherever you think this ball is going to come from, it's not," she stated. "You're not on a soccer field anymore, Repli-girl."

The replicate kept jogging in place. "Huh?" she gasped out between breaths.

"Okay, could you stop?" Pim grabbed her arm, holding her in place. "Listen to me. We're going to give you a name, call you my summer buddy so Mom won't bug me about it, and…ew, definitely get you cleaned up. Capice?"

"Okay." The replicate shrugged.

"All right then." Pim grabbed the magazine from off of her bed, looking at the page about a high school soccer team from which she had gotten her replicate. "Hmm…doesn't tell me a name here," she said. She looked back up at the girl. "You look like…eh…we'll call you…Ashley."

"Ashley."

"Right. Now, give Pim a minute to come up with a halfway believable story about how we became friends."

She tapped her chin. "Okay, got it. I think. Now…I'm kind of sick of smelling you. We've gotta replicate you a new outfit before I introduce you to my parents."

She selected another magazine from her shelf, some frilly girly one she just used for show. It went pretty well with the rest of the nice, adorable bedroom that her mom so readily approved of.

Her Replicator…her _brother's_ Replicator…easily reproduced the perfect parentally approved outfit. "Ashley" stood before her in a denim miniskirt, lacy white tank top and light pink blazer. The finishing touch was transforming her hair from sweaty and messy to straight, golden and gorgeous, falling a few inches past her replicated shoulders.

"Should do it for now," Pim decided. "A little Ivy League, but that's all the more reason for Mom to buy it." She glanced towards her door. "All right, now let's get you saved in the Replicator's memory bank before my parents wonder how a complete stranger got upstairs in my room."

Ashley looked down at her outfit, smoothing her hands over the material. She caught sight of herself in Pim's mirror and smiled fondly, but in a robotic kind of way, at her beautified reflection, patting her hair into place.

"Yeah, you're gorgeous, thank me later." Pim ran the Replicator over the length of Ashley's body, and pixel by pixel, she was gone.

For then.

The perfect silence was pierced with a loud buzzing accompanied by the most annoying ringing she'd ever heard.

Keely peeked out from beneath her bedspread, squinting against the light. "Ughhhhh!" she exclaimed, pulling it back over her head.

The ringing persisted, and she shoved her covers back down. "Whose _is_ that!" she grumbled in annoyance.

The vibrations coming from within the phone moved it steadily over to the edge of the nightstand until, suddenly, it dropped down onto Keely's pillow, inches from her face.

"Oh," she mumbled. "It's mine."

Sighing, she grabbed the phone and flipped it open, not bothering to check the ID.

"Hello?" She didn't care how legible she sounded.

"Keely! I'm glad you're awake." Via's voice was loud and chipper on the other end.

Keely rolled her eyes.

Via continued. "Listen, can you come over in a little bit this morning? I bought some food for the party and I need to know what you think of it."

Keely rubbed her eyes. "Food? Vi, can't people just decide for themselves what they do and don't want to eat?"

"Hey, you never know," Via maintained. "There's probably at least a dozen lactose intolerants coming, and I know a few people who are severely allergic to pineapple. We've gotta make sure of these things."

Keely rolled over on her back, hand on her forehead. _What time does this girl get up!_

"So, can you come? The party's only a few days away and I've got almost everything worked out. I just need to make certain of the menu. People come for the party, but they always stay for the food."

Keely looked at the clock. It was 10:30. Had she really slept so late? Not that it felt late…oh, whatever.

"Yeah…yeah. Okay. Just give me some time to get ready."

Keely hung up her phone and sat up. As she looked down, it all hit her again. The family being here. Yesterday. Last night.

And her cousin hadn't stirred at all. Despite the seemingly deafening ringing of Keely's cell phone, she was still buried under her blanket, motionless, breathing steadily with sleep. Just the top of her blonde tresses could be seen, along with an arm that was slung over her pillow, the black nail polish on her fingers offsetting the white fabric.

Keely giggled as she looked upon Melody.

Her mind took her back to their conversation the night before. The two of them sharing a love for guitar, the conversation they'd had, gave her a new kind of hope and reassurance about Melody living here, even just for a short time. Maybe she didn't have a clue what it was like to have a sister, but last night had felt, for the first time, like something close to it.

Quietly, she slipped out of the room.

…………………

Despite dragging sleepily through the getting ready process, one never would have guessed that Keely's efforts had been half hearted. She looked perfectly put together in a white fit n' flair tunic topped off with a short-sleeved green zip up hoodie and jeans, the kind with a few purposely placed holes in the front. She strung on some long beaded necklaces and put in silver leaf-shaped earrings, leaving her hair down in tousled waves. _(A/N- I love plotting out Keely's outfits, mwaha.) _

Finally she retreated downstairs, already smelling her mom's coffee.

"Morning, Mom," she greeted her mother in the kitchen.

"Oh, hi sweetie!" her mom answered. "You look nice today. Going somewhere with Phil?"

"No, actually," Keely responded, taking a seat at the table. "I mean, not now. Via called me earlier and asked if I could come help with some last minute party plans." She sighed. "I almost wish we could just get the thing over with."

"Oh, muffin, it'll be fun. You always have fun with Olivia." Mandy tousled her daughter's hair and set a glass of orange juice down in front of her. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "Oh, and you know what? I just got the best idea!"

Keely was mid-sip in the orange juice when she raised her eyes to her mom. She set her glass down, looking up at her questioningly.

"You should ask your cousin to come to the party with you!" Mandy exclaimed, her eyes bright.

Keely paused a second, thinking it over. Her eyebrows knit together.

"Should I?" she questioned.

"Yes, I really think so," Mandy replied, sitting down in front of her daughter. "She's new here, and it's going to be hard to make any friends until she starts school, which isn't for another few weeks. Even then, it might be difficult. A party would be a perfect way to meet people." She grinned ecstatically.

Keely considered all of that for a moment. She traced the tabletop with her finger.

"I could," she decided finally, nodding. She smiled.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask," Mandy told her, patting her hand.

Keely nodded. "You're right." Her mom smiled gladly at her, then stood up.

Keely took another sip of her juice, then looked around curiously.

"By the way, where are Uncle Bob and…Dad?" she asked, twirling a strand of hair absently around one slender finger.

Mandy busied herself with the coffee. "Oh…they went out. Said something about checking out what Pickford has to offer. They left pretty early this morning."

Keely scoffed. "Well, coming from Tucson, let's just hope they aren't too disappointed."

Mandy laughed. "Oh, don't worry about it," she retorted. "Your uncle has gotten adjusted to our little hometown already."

Keely nodded, watching the pool of orangey-yellow at the bottom of her glass.

That made one of them.

"Hey, Mom," she said, breaking herself away from the somehow hypnotizing color of her juice. "I think I'll head over to Via's now. She's freaking out over this party. I'm afraid she's steadily becoming a threat to the environment."

"Oh, well," Mandy nodded. "That's a shame. A party should be something fun." She offered her daughter a smile.

"Yeah," Keely muttered. "Would you like to come with me and tell that to Via?"

Mandy just laughed. "Go, have fun, don't let it get to you." She patted Keely's head. "You've been a real trooper lately," she praised, leaning down to kiss it.

Keely drew the corner of her lips up into a smile meant for encouraging her mom. "Thanks, I guess." She stood up from the table and carried her glass to the sink. "I better get out of here. Wish me luck," she called, waving over her shoulder as she departed the room.

Mandy just smiled as she watched Keely go. Part of her ached to follow the young blonde, to hug her and give some motherly consolation for the jumbled thoughts that seemed evident on her face. That was the thing, though. It was hard to be sure what Keely was thinking about.

………………..

Phil punched lazily at the remote button, surfing through the channels without relief for his boredom. Lame reality show, cartoons, a lady demonstrating how to make the perfect lemon squares, golf.

He silently reminded himself to not complain about the century he now lived in…

Sighing, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, glancing at the digitalized time. Being as Party Day was drawing steadily closer, he hoped to catch Keely sometime today and just take her somewhere the two of them could be alone. Nothing involving the Skyak (his dad was currently making some repairs on the outside, anyway; now that the time engine wasn't taking up his time, he grabbed every opportunity he could to fix _something_), or any of his futuristic gadgets at all. He just wanted to hold her hand and walk with her. He wanted them to talk about everything that was on their minds, be it important or completely without a point. He loved to talk to her. He wanted to spend an hour at the park with her as they sun set; holding contests to see who could get the highest first on the swings, and then, who could jump off the furthest. He usually won the swinging part, but Keely most often jumped farther than him. He guessed it was her long legs, which put her just barely an inch above him in height, even though he was gaining on her, just a little. He guessed that within a couple years, by the time he was finished growing, he might even stand tall enough for her to lean against his chest as she stood, and have to stand tippy-toed to kiss him…

Just as he felt the beginnings of a smile tugging at his lips, someone stepped directly in front of him, obscuring his view of the TV screen and all the junk playing on it.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt…this," Pim said, glancing curiously at the game of golf, "but would you happen to know where Mom is?"

"Uh…" Phil snapped out of his daydreams. Mostly. He shook his head. "Um, I think she's out back." He grabbed the remote and shut the TV off, succumbing to the lame daytime lineup of shows. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, just out enjoying the sunshine."

Phil raised his eyebrows.

"And you'll never guess who I ran into!"

Phil glanced sideways, then back at his sister. "Um…you're right, I probably won't."

The words had barely left his lips when a second blonde, dressed as if she were headed to a job interview and around Pim's age, jogged into the room, stopping just short of her. Phil gazed confusedly at the stranger.

Pim smiled cheesily. "This," she said, "is Ashley. She and I were partners for a science lab last year, and just now, I ran into her outside and had to help get her dog out of Hackett's flower bed. What a funny way to reunite, huh? So Ashley, Phil; Phil, Ashley. All right, gotta go find mom. Enjoy your golf, big brother. Now buh-bye!" She turned to leave, tugging Ashley's arm.

"Um," Phil got out, not really sure what to think of the anonymous teenage girl, and at the same time, curiously eyeing his obviously anxious sister. "Well, uh, nice to meet you, Ashley…?"

"I'm open!" she exclaimed in response, breaking free of Pim's grasp on her, waving her arms.

Phil jumped in surprise, his eyes widening. Pim quickly pulled Ashley's arms out of the air.

"No, you're Ashley, remember?" she laughed stiffly. "She's a real clown, I'll tell ya. Her sense of humor is probably the only thing that got me through all those science labs!"

Phil gazed open-mouthed at the two girls, for all of his intelligence, trying to comprehend this situation.

Before he had any chance to question it, they were gone.

With a final glance in the direction Pim had gone, he flipped open his cell phone to text Keely.

_**This is the part where that announcer would say, "Don't go away! Phil of the Future will be right back." **_

_**Almost party time. PLEASE tell me what you think. :) I would have added more onto this chapter, but it's so hot and I really want to go get some lemonade. **_

_**It's still okay, right? Eh.. more coming your way. :)**_


	11. All That Glitters Isn't Gold

"All right, Vi, I'll admit it. You rock at this."

Keely surveyed the masses of food and drinks piled upon Via's kitchen table. This girl was incredible, she really was. She had everything Keely could have imagined; she'd be darned if anyone attending this party didn't leave full.

What was funny was, all morning, the strain of the planning had steadily transformed into excitement. Via could do that to you, if she got into a mood. Anyone who knew her also knew her as laid-back and friendly, but with a party underway, she was something else.

"I do, don't I?" She clapped her hands together excitedly, reminding Keely somewhat of… herself.

Keely smiled. Via just laughed.

"Okay, okay…there's no way I can take all the credit here." She put an arm around Keely. "Couldn't have done it without you, doll."

"Oh, sure you could." Keely laughed. "But…you're welcome. I'm glad I could help you."

Via smiled, walking around the table, just examining all of her food.

"Listen, Keely," she began, picking up a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips. "I'm sorry if I made this party into a bigger deal than it needed to be. I…I know a lot is happening with you right now. I just want you to know that it means a lot to me that you would put aside your time just to help me." She gave her friend a heartfelt smile. "I think the person I'll end up having the most fun with there is you. You've been my best girlfriend ever since I got to this crazy place." She giggled.

Keely smiled softly, but looked down at her hands. She suddenly felt guilty for being so impatient with Via this whole time.

She looked up at her, returning the smile. "Aw, Via," she said, trying to push it away. "Why wouldn't I do this for you? You're my best girlfriend, too." She held out her arms. "Hugs?"

Via accepted it graciously. "Thanks, Keely," she said. "And, for the record, I mean 'crazy' in the nicest way possible."

Keely laughed. "Hey, do you wanna go out and get some ice cream or something?" she wondered, pulling away. "You can only look at so much food without eating it…" She giggled, poking at a pineapple on the table.

Via laughed. "Of course," she said. "Let me just check with my mum." She turned to depart the room, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be right back."

Keely leaned against the table patiently after Via had gone. As she waited, she took her cell out of her pocket and flipped it open. She decided to dial Phil's number…maybe he'd want to go.

Her fingers jumped smoothly from button to button until the familiar number had been entered. She went to hit the SEND key, and just as she did…an incoming call interrupted her.

Who else? Phil himself.

"Are you serious?" Keely laughed to herself.

She took the call.

"Hey, buddy," she greeted him happily. "I was jus t about to call you!"

"Whoa, how do we do that?" he laughed.

"We're, um…cool like that?"

Phil chuckled. "Obviously. So, what were_ you_ calling about?"

"Oh, well," Keely began, checking quickly to see if Via was coming. "Vi and I were just about done with the big menu plan, and we were thinking of going to get ice cream. Do you, you know, wanna come?"

"Sounds sweet," he said. "Would it be okay with Via?"

Just then, the girl in question returned to the room. "Keely, Mum says…" She paused at the sight of Keely's phone against her ear. Keely covered the mouthpiece for a moment, letting Via know she had her attention.

Slightly quieter, Via continued, "Mum says it's okay." She slung her purse over her shoulder. "That Phil?"

Keely nodded.

"Hi Phil!" Via called out. "Keely, tell him to come with us."

Keely laughed at the irony.

"He's coming," she informed Via, who smiled and nodded.

"So, we'll pick you up," Keely confirmed.

"All right. Do I get to pay for you?"

"Nope." She bit back her smile.

"Are you— ah, fine," he surrendered.

She laughed. Funny how her heart was suddenly fluttering like crazy. "See ya, Phil."

…..

Via slammed the passenger door shut. "Thanks, Mum," she called through the open window. "I'll ring later." She waved.

The use of her British lingo brought a shared smile to the faces of Phil and Keely, who had enjoyed listening to the little things she hadn't dropped from her vocabulary yet, even after some eight months in America.

The late afternoon sun painted Keely's neighborhood as the three of them laughed their way across her ornament filled front lawn, and towards her house.

"Is your cousin here right now?" Via wondered as they climbed the porch steps. "It doesn't look like anyone is." She craned her neck to look for a car anywhere on the premises.

Keely and Phil followed her gaze to the driveway, then looked at one another. Keely shrugged curiously.

"Uh, would this explain anything?" Phil said suddenly. The girls turned to face the doorway, discovering the small blue-ish piece of paper taped to it.

"Uh, hopefully. Because my mom doesn't usually leave pieces of paper taped to our door." Keely shrugged and pulled it off gently.

"It says..." she began. "_Keely, Went to look for your uncle and father, who haven't been back all day, and have apparently decided to leave their cell phones off_." She raised her eyebrows confusedly, and continued reading. "_Your cousin is still here, but might still be up in your room. Seems upset today_." She sighed knowingly. "_Don't be worried, I'll find them. Call if you need anything. Via and Phil, don't you worry either. Love you… Mom_." Keely rolled her eyes at her mom's perceptiveness.

Via and Phil exchanged looks. "Well, uh," Phil began. "It's Pickford, right? How far could they have gone?" He tried to keep confident in his tone of voice.

"Yeah, well, that's just it," Keely sighed, shoving open the door. "Who knows? It's my father, after all."

As quietly as she spoke the last five words, each of her best friends heard very clearly. Keely, as she went ahead of them through the doorway, didn't notice how Via's eyebrows knit together, and how Phil was watching her with concern etched into every feature of his that she loved so much.

Phil, the last one into the house, shut the door behind him. Keely set her purse down on a small table next to the front door, then proceeded into the living room, Via and Phil close behind.

"Yeah, it seems pretty quiet down here," she muttered. "Melody must still be upstairs."

"No, I'm not."

The sudden voice startled all three as Melody herself came into the room, from the direction of the kitchen. She stopped when she noticed Phil and Via there. All three observed that she hadn't yet changed out of her pajamas, her blonde hair still lay across her shoulder in a loose braid that was coming undone, and she looked…sadder than Keely had seen her the whole time she'd been in Pickford.

"Oh, hey, Melody." Keely smiled as graciously as she could muster, despite feeling pretty distraught herself.

"Hey." Melody smiled, just barely.

"Um…" Keely cleared her throat, kind of a filler for an awkward silence. "This is my friend Via. Well, Olivia…but she likes Via."

Via smiled warmly. "I've heard about you," she told Melody. "It's awesome to finally meet you."

"Thanks." Melody smiled a little wider. Just a little. She glanced from Via to Phil, looking timid.

Awkward silence.

Keely looked around. "So, um…" She sighed. "It's a little weird that our dads never even called, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." Melody shrugged. "It's even weirder that they found that much to do around here. Uh, no offense." She smiled sheepishly.

"Oh um, none taken," Keely assured her. She glanced at Phil, who had his hands shoved in his pockets and was looking at the floor, trying desperately not to smile. Via just stood quietly off to the side.

"Um, so, anyway," Melody continued. "I'll just be…upstairs. Let me know if our fathers ever decide to show up." She turned to leave.

Keely looked at Phil and Via, suddenly feeling desperate.

"Um, Melody," she said suddenly, before she could stop herself. "Wait a sec."

Melody paused and turned to look at her.

"Um…" Now that she had Melody's attention, she felt pretty dumb for getting it at a time like this. It was just…her cousin looked so…lonely. Something like that.

"Uh, I was just going to ask," she stammered, "um…do you…what would you…"

All three pairs of eyes were fixed on her curiously, which she realized just in that moment.

"If you want to," she spat out quickly, "Via is having this end of summer get together at the beach in a few days, and it would be cool if you came with us." She smiled as brightly as she could muster. Her mom once told her she had a smile that could charm a polar bear into buying a bag of ice. She hoped Melody was feeling polar bear-ish today. _Especially since I stupidly put her on the spot like that, _she thought. _Awesome job, Keely. Fantastic. _She tried not to grimace.

"Oh, um…" Melody looked surprised. She looked over at Phil and Via. Just using her peripheral vision, Keely could tell they were trying not to appear too curious about her cousin's response.

Keely fidgeted with the rings on her fingers, an anxious habit of hers. _Like she'll really agree to it now,_ she kicked herself.

"Yeah. That'd be cool."

She looked up at her cousin, who offered a small smile.

"Really?" Keely asked her. _Didn't see that one coming. _

"Uh-huh." Melody shrugged. "Why not?" She tossed a glance in Via and Phil's direction.

"Okay, well…awesome!" Keely responded. "I mean, it'll be fun." _Shut up and let her get out of here, Keely._

"Just, uh, come with an appetite," Via spoke up, relieving her friend. "I went ahead and went crazy with the food." She smiled.

"Oh, well, thanks for the heads up," Melody replied. "I'll remember that." Phil being the only one who hadn't spoken so far, she kind of glanced at him for a moment, as if expecting him to say something. He just smiled politely.

"Well…thanks." Melody nodded at all of them. "I'll be upstairs." She smiled over her shoulder, slowly making her exit.

Keely, Phil and Via stood motionless for a second after she'd left.

"Well," Keely concluded, once her cousin was safely upstairs. "I guess I could have…waited, or something."

"It was kind of awkward, but at least she agreed," Via pointed out, taking a seat on the couch and setting her purse next to her.

"One thing I did notice that you didn't mention," Phil added.

"What?" Keely asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, just that…there's gonna be at least fifty people coming and going. I'm not sure if that falls under the 'get together' category, but that could just be me coming from a different ce—section of the country," he finished hurriedly.

Keely glanced at him just long enough to let him know she'd caught it, and to praise him for a good save. A quick look at Via confirmed that it had blown right over her head.

They both figured she may find out someday, but until it became blatantly obvious, they were still keeping their mouths shut.

"Anyway, I'm not trying to make you anxious or anything, but…"

Keely interrupted Phil. "You don't think it'll freak her out, do you?"

"If it does, she'll get over it," Via reasoned. "I know that sounds a bit harsh, but I'm just saying… when I first got here, I mean, not only had I never been a student at H.G. Wells before, I had never been a resident of the United States before. All interaction I'd had with American kids consisted of TV shows and movies I used to watch back in Britain. Well, that was the only place I got to hear the American English really, because in France and Italy they dubbed the voices…"

"You lived in France and Italy?" Keely asked, eyes widening.

"Yeah. I never told you? I was kind of young, though. Still, I am definitely sure that you would_ love_ the shopping in Paris…"

Keely gasped excitedly. "Really?"

Phil sensed the conversation turning down a road marked "Females Only", and tried to focus his attention elsewhere.

He cleared his throat, as politely as he could muster.

"Um, guys," he said. "Hey, Keel? Via?"

"Huh?" Keely replied, turning her attention halfway away from Via's description of a pair of pink rhinestone sandals she had bought at a French boutique.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, already knowing they'd been too engaged in conversation to hear much of anything.

Sure enough… "Hear what?" Keely asked curiously, looking around.

"I think someone's home." Phil nodded towards the window facing the front of the house.

The sandals conversation was dropped, and Keely made her way to the front window, pushing aside the curtain to look out. "It's my mom," she said. "And...looks like my uncle and father decided to show, too."

She turned back to Phil and Via. "This should be fun."

Phil wanted to talk some reassurance into her, but wasn't sure quite what to say. He hoped that simply running his hands a few times through her hair would help, as he gently gave it a try.

Keely sighed and walked past him distractedly, sitting down on the couch. Phil sat down next to her, only for her to stand right back up again. She paced.

"Keel, relax," he began.

"Yeah, that'll—" Keely was cut short by the front door opening.

"Muffin?" came the sound of her mother's voice. She whipped around.

"In here, Mom." She looked apprehensive.

Mandy bustled into the room, her purse slung over her shoulder. "Hi, kids," she greeted them. "Sorry about all the craziness, but I'm back now."

"It's…okay," Keely answered, distractedly. "But um…Dad? Uncle Bob?"

Mandy sighed, dropping her purse onto the coffee table. She didn't have time to answer her daughter's question, as…

"Keely!" came a loud and boisterous new voice, as Mr. Teslow entered the room. "Just the girl I wanted to see." Four heads, three teenage and one adult, turned towards him.

Keely examined her dad, trying to decipher why exactly he was carrying a large pink shopping bag, the kind she usually brought home from the mall after the shopping trips she brought Phil along on.

"Uh, hi," she greeted her dad, trying to smile through the puzzlement. Looking at her mom, the only thing she got back was a baffled shake of the head.

Before she could piece anything together, her uncle followed her father into the room, carrying a couple of bags on his own. "Hey, everyone," he addressed the room. "Where's Mellie?"

"Um, she's…upstairs," Keely managed, still distracted by all the…pink.

"Oh, thanks. Just picked her up a little something while we were out today." He nudged his brother excitedly, then pushed past everyone towards the stairs.

Left confused by his quick entrance and quicker exit, everyone except Keely's father exchanged glances.

"And mine is right here," Greg concluded, smiling, and gesturing to Keely. She looked down at herself momentarily, then back up at her dad. _Mine…right here?_ It made her feel like a car in a parking lot.

_Well, at least he's acknowledging me as his…_

"Well, while your uncle and I were out around the town today, we dropped into the mall…mostly because of the signs in the entrance advertising the grand opening of a new Japanese restaurant, but anyway…saw this and figured that since, well, you're my daughter and everything, I'd get it for ya." He held out the bag. "Happy late birthday, early Christmas." He chuckled at himself.

Gingerly, Keely took the bag, as if it might explode in her hand. She glimpsed at Phil, who just shrugged, quite frankly looking as bewildered as she was. Via just looked taken aback by the whole situation, her first time meeting Mr. Teslow being now, of all times. Keely tried to forget about that fact in particular.

She looked around awkwardly, finally deciding to take a spot on the couch beside Phil. He smiled at her encouragingly, and she tried to return it.

She pulled open the top of the bag and slowly reached inside, fumbling for the surprise object. When she found it, she lifted it out.

Keely gazed down at the bright colors, the shapes, the sparkles, not even sure what to make of it.

"A makeup kit," she finally managed.

It had more glitter than she probably had in her closet, and she may have loved putting together these kinds of color combinations when she was thirteen, but now…

There was no way he had bought this at a store where anyone over the age of twelve shopped.

"Cute, isn't it?" he went on. "I just figured that since, hey, you're getting older, and I noticed you started wearing makeup…" He shrugged. "It was perfect!"

Keely tried to advert her eyes from any of her friends or her mom, knowing he'd be able to read her expression if she looked at them. "Well," she began. "It's…it's really colorful. I like colors." She decided to leave out the part about which ones.

"Great," her dad said enthusiastically.

She finally looked up at him. He was grinning as if he honestly thought that she loved it.

She wasn't sure whether to feel hurt or guilty.

"Thanks, Dad," she told him. She tried to remember what her mom had always said. _It's the thought that counts, right? _

_Yeah, and doesn't seem to _think_ about his daughter's actual age._

"No problem." He stood up finally, walked over to Keely and ruffled her hair. Surprised, she shook it out of her face, trying to smile up at him.

"I think I'm gonna head to bed pretty soon," he announced. "You enjoy that, babe." He pointed to Keely and her makeup kit, then excused himself from the room.

She just looked down at all the colors, stunned into silence.

"That was…random," she said finally.

"Honey…" Mandy came over and took a seat on the other side of Keely.

"They were at the_ mall_ all day?" she questioned.

"Well, all they told me is that they were out spending some time together, getting to know the town," Mandy responded.

Keely just raised her eyebrows.

"I know, it sounded weird to me too. But what could I say?"

"How about 'Hey, Greg, by the way, you have a daughter. How about sticking around for once and getting to know her a little?'" Keely just set the hideous array of colors and patterns down on the coffee table. "Oh, and by the way, Dad…good morning, good night, yes I'm doing fine, see ya." She waved in the direction of her dad's departure, then sat back on the couch, dejectedly.

Her only response was silence from her friends, who had no idea what to do. Phil sighed, looking as if he felt horrible. Frankly, he did. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Love muffin…" Mandy began. She put her arms around her daughter, hugging her close. "Come here."

Keely had tried not to, she really had. The second she saw all that glitter and little girl luster, she had begun fighting it. It wasn't the present that was horrible. Okay, it was. Mostly though, it was the reason he'd gotten it for her.

"He has no idea who I am," Keely murmured, as the tears began soaking her mom's shoulder. "I knew it. I knew it would end up like this. Why would he be any different now, Mom?"

She tried to forget the fact that she was sobbing in front of her two best friends. She just did.

As her mom squeezed her tightly, running her hands through her only daughter's hair and rocking her back and forth, Keely cried harder than she had in a long while. The only time she could remember tears like this was… the end of the school year. The day Phil left.

And long ago, six years old, as she listened to her mom in the next room, the night her father walked out.

Then, she would have loved for Daddy to give her this makeup kit.

* * *

**_If my chapters are coming too slowly, you're too impatient!_**

**_Haha I'm kidding. But honestly, I try people, and I really do like writing this story, so don't worry, you'll get your next chapter before long. _**

**_Anyway,I'm on summer vacation now so I do go out and do stuff, and I usually write at night. Just don't worry, it's coming. :)_**


	12. Are You Gellin?

During the next two days, Pickford seemed to hold the interest of Keely's dad and uncle pretty well. It was a mystery to her how, but they always seemed to find something to do. The first day, it was golfing. She didn't even know her uncle, much less her dad, did that. Then it was the music store downtown, then the movie theater…

Basically anything other than staying at the house for very long.

Melody, of course, hadn't exactly come any further out of her shell. She'd be sleeping by the time Keely went up to her room at night, and she'd come downstairs way later in the morning than anyone else. Her days consisted of watching TV, taking long showers, and then hanging out in Keely's room, strumming at her guitar or scrawling in a notebook that she seemed pretty protective of.

To be honest…Keely kind of felt like doing the same as her lately.

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to curl up under her covers with her journal and a pint of ice cream and hide from the situation.

The day of the party was here. Finally. After all the hassle of planning, it was now a welcome relief. It gave her a time slot of several hours to push aside her father related worries, and she was determined to.

She was on the phone with Via by 3:30 in the afternoon, two and a half hours before it even started. Half the contents of her closet covered her bedspread. Her makeup bag was overturned on her desk, brushes and eyeliner and a rainbow of eyeshadow scattered everywhere. She rushed around in a Lady X t-shirt, a pair of PJ shorts covered in hearts, and her hair curly and tamed only by the pigtails she had pulled it into.

"Tell me again what you're wearing?" Keely asked Via, picking up a pair of wedge sandals from the shoe organizer in her otherwise unorganized (at least right now) closet.

Via just laughed. "You forgot already? Are you that worked up about this?"

"No!" Keely protested. "I just don't…you know, want to show up all freakishly coordinated with you and then everyone will think we did it on purpose because we planned it together. You know?"

Her friend laughed, again. "No, I don't," she answered. "You American girls and your parties. Can't they just be fun?"

Keely stopped, rolling her eyes. She had to kind of laugh at herself, but still. "Via, don't hold this against all American girls," she said. "Just me, your insane best friend."

Behind her, sitting on the low bed that had been set up for her, Melody eyed her cousin curiously every once in a while. Her notebook lay on her lap, a pen in one hand. Her guitar case wasn't far from her. Her blonde hair was down and hung around her shoulders.

"Okay, okay," Via answered. "I'm wearing a white strappy tank top, my navy blue tiered skirt, white sandals. Probably a beaded necklace. Going simple with the makeup. Got it now?" Keely could hear her smiling practically.

"All right, yeah." She ran a hand through one pigtail. "I guess I can take it from here. Sorry for freaking out. I'll see you in like, an hour okay?"

"Yes, definitely don't freak out. You'll look amazing. Oh, but don't forget those cakes I told you to bring, okay?"

"Cakes?" Keely exclaimed. "What cakes?"

Via burst out laughing. "See? You're freaking out," she retorted. "I was kidding. Just bring yourself, your cool, and Phil. Oh, and Melody. See you."

Keely hung up her phone and sighed. "I am losing it," she said softly, mostly to herself. "I'm losing it and it's all over Via's freakin party."

"Thought you were excited," Melody said.

Keely spun around as if suddenly remembering her cousin's presence in the room. "Oh," she laughed sheepishly. "Yeah. Well, I am. I was. I…I don't know."

Melody nodded, gazing down at the notebook, which she had propped up so only she could see its pages.

"Yeah. I know." She sighed, scribbling. "Losing it has been pretty easy lately."

Keely just gazed at her cousin, whose eyes were focused intensely on the page. When Melody glanced up, Keely did her best to make it seem like she'd never been looking.

"So, uh," she continued, sifting through the clothes on her bed. "You…you're still going, right? I mean, do you want to?"

She instantly hoped she'd said the right thing.

Melody was silent for a second. "Do you think I even should?" she asked.

Keely paused, looking over at her, surprised. "Yeah, I do," she said earnestly. "I want you to, that is."

Melody hadn't looked up again. Keely wondered if she'd even heard her when after several seconds, she hadn't answered.

She turned back towards her bed, picking up a lacy blue tank top.

"Does your friend, Via, want me there?" Melody continued.

Keely stopped as she held the shirt up against herself, puzzled. "Of course she does," she answered softly, looking at her cousin again.

Melody nodded, quiet again.

Keely was completely unsure of what to say. Quietly, looking at Melody with concern, she pulled out her pigtails, shaking her hair so it fell loosely around her shoulders.

Finally, Melody shut her notebook, sliding it underneath her pillow.

"What about your boyfriend?" she asked.

Keely whirled around. "Phil?" She laughed. "Melody, don't worry about him. First off it's not his party, and second, he—"

"No, I was just asking…if he was going," she responded softly.

"Oh." Keely went silent, feeling stupid suddenly. She nodded. "Right. Yeah, he's going." She smiled and went back to her outfit coordinating, a feeling that she wasn't liking so much hanging in the air.

She expected her cousin to stay silent for at least several seconds after that, so she made sure she was busy. Somehow though, Melody surprised her again.

"What should I wear?" she asked.

Keely smiled to herself.

"Whatever you want," she replied, turning back around. "Maybe something…beachy. It's nothing fancy really. Just relaxed and fun."

"Beachy…" Melody nodded. "Let me see if I have anything that qualifies as that."

Keely laughed. "If you want, I could help you." She corrected herself. "I mean, you know, if you want me to, not that you…um…"

Melody laughed, standing up.

"What?" Keely questioned.

"You _are_ freaking out," her cousin giggled, walking past her.

…….

He listened to his sister downstairs, amused as he brushed his teeth – rather laser cleaned them, the 2121 way. Pim had been arguing with their mom for a good twenty minutes. Over a WIZRD. Hers, to be specific.

Ever since she'd gotten it taken away and had to borrow Phil's, he'd made it tough on her every chance he got. He knew she'd eventually get tired of having to actually ask someone permission for something, rather than just taking it. He liked being able to hold the fact that the WIZRD belonged to him over her tough blonde little head. It was cool having something on her for once.

Now, she had finally resorted to bartering for her own WIZRD back.

It was hilarious.

Meanwhile, Phil had a party to get ready for, one which started in an hour. He still hadn't decided on what he was going to wear, so he stood in boxers and his Lady X t-shirt in front of the bathroom mirror. He reached for his hair gel – a 21st century product he actually really liked to use – and squeezed some onto his hand. He whistled to himself cheerfully.

"UGHHHHHH!"

Phil jumped nearly a foot as the bathroom door banged open. There was Pim, looking furious.

"Pim, what the heck?" he demanded, realizing that in being startled he'd squirted hair gel all over the mirror, sink and his shirt. He wiped some of the clear sticky gunk off of Lady X's picture the best he could.

"Oh. Sorry," Pim grumbled. "Thought the bathroom was empty." She made no attempt to leave.

Phil wiped a glob of gel off the edge of the sink, staring his sister down. "Well, looks like it's not," he replied. "So…"

Pim looked down at the floor. She had begun mumbling to herself.

"You know we have another bathroom, don't you?" Phil asked irritably.

More mumbling.

He rolled his eyes. "All right, evil genius," he said. "And I use the term 'genius' loosely. What's with the mumbling? I know it means you're ticked."

"Well," Pim answered, "wouldn't _you_ be if all the sudden, Mom wanted to take away our future gadgets?"

Phil blinked.

"_All_ of them? From _both _of us?"

He dropped his gel bottle in the sink.

"What? Why?" he demanded. "Is she serious?"

"Yeah,_ that's_ what I thought you'd say," Pim answered. "Well, you tell me if 'I'm thinking of limiting your use of future gadgets for awhile' sounds serious or not to you." She sighed. "It just started with me asking if, hypothetically, a nice crisp Ben Franklin would be a good exchange for a WIZRD…"

Phil looked nervously down at his laser wand, the one he had cleaned his teeth with moments before. "Well…she said _limited_," he reasoned. "That just means we can't use them as _much_."

"Please," Pim said, rolling her eyes. "You know Mom. She's serious about stuff. She could mean 'limited' on a whole different level. Like, mega limited. Like, so limited we'll never see any of them again and we'll have to learn to do everything like everybody here does like when Dad took the batteries out of everything and we'll DIE, Phil!" She grabbed his arm melodramatically, shaking it.

Phil sighed, pushing her hands off gently. "Okay, Pim, I don't know about dying," he said. "But…that would definitely suck."

"You're telling me."

"Well, what about Dad? Did he say the same thing?"

"Do you think he'd say any different? Let's face it, Mom has our father whipped."

Phil just sighed, nodding. Couldn't disagree.

"Anyway, here's what I'm thinking."

"Oh, geez…"

"Just listen. Hide any of them you can. Starting with this." She grabbed the cleaning laser from the counter around the sink.

She was barely finished speaking when there was a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you," Barb said, plucking the gadget from her daughter's hand. "I'm glad you found it. Makes my job a little easier." She smiled. "Phil, I assume your sister has filled you in?"

He sighed, which she took as a yes.

"Mom," Pim began, turning to face Barb. She widened her baby doll eyes, stuck out her lower lip, and looked up at her mother through her lashes. "You don't have to do this."

Barb just stared back.

"Because…I love you?" Pim tried, smiling.

Barb patted her head.

"And I love you, Pim. I love both of you enough to look out for your best interests." She pocketed the laser.

"Best interests?" Phil cried. "Mom, I don't mean to whine, but don't you think that our best interest, as kids from 2121, would be to take care of ourselves in a way we know how?"

Barb sighed. "Phil, sweetie, we've been here since we landed in 2003," she said. "Almost three present day years. You use your future gadgets a lot, but even so don't you think you've picked up on how to do things around here by now?" She shrugged. "Even I'm getting better at cooking, little by little. Washing dishes, too. Pim, you and I even found the right place to put them!" She nudged her daughter as she smiled.

Phil and Pim looked at each other.

"Phil, don't forget, you've got Keely to help you out with things," Barb reasoned.  
"And Pim, you made a new friend! Maybe Ashley doesn't know about where we come from, but I'm sure you could still pick up some pointers from her."

Pim looked like she was trying not to laugh, for just a second.

"And it wouldn't be just you two giving up your gadgets," Barb continued. "Your dad and I have also agreed to give it a try."

"Oh great," Pim retorted. "And Dad just finished growing his eyebrow back, too."

"Listen, we'll talk about this later," Barb said. "Phil, don't you have your party to go to?"

"Yeah…" He sighed, looking down at the sink. It was a sticky, goopy mess. His gel bottle was almost empty now. "Well, forget this."

"Wow. What happened in here anyway?" Barb questioned, looking around the bathroom.

"Ask this one." Phil jabbed a thumb towards Pim.

She didn't even fight back. She just looked utterly ticked.

"Pim, it's not that bad, really," Barb said, taking her by the shoulders. "Hey. Maybe you and I could have a nice old fashioned popcorn and movie night tonight? And…possibly Curtis too?"

Pim sighed. "That depends. Think you'll be able to figure out how to work an old fashioned DVD player?" she shot back.

Barb just laughed, and with her arm around Pim, guided her towards the stairs. "Phil, check in with me before you leave," she called over her shoulders.

"Will do."

Dejectedly, he turned back towards the sink. "Well," he mumbled. "I guess I've got my first challenge here. Cleaning up hair gel the 21st century way." He shook his head. _Whatever, Diffy. You've got a party to go to, and a gorgeous girl to meet in less than an hour. Hair gel isn't the big issue. _

He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. _Maybe I'll just forget the hair gel altogether._ Quickly, he combed it and shook in into place. It didn't look so bad this way. He saw a lot of guys leave their longer hair ungelled around here. If he was going to have to start cooking food and cleaning their way, he might as well try this.

Warily grabbing a handful of tissue, he began blotting the gel off the mirror. It didn't seem to work too well.

After a moment of frustration, Phil casually glanced at his watch. "Oh, gee, getting late," he commented, tossing the tissue into the trash and hurrying out of the bathroom.

……

Twenty minutes later, Phil bounded down the steps, checking his reflection one more time in the mirror on the wall at the bottom. Everything was in place…his distressed jeans, white T-shirt with a faded brown "73" on the front, gray zip up hoodie, brown flip-flops, hair. So far, so good.

"Okay," he said to himself. "Anything I need before I go…" he snapped his fingers. "Cell phone." He turned around to head towards the stairs, and nearly had a heart attack.

"Geez," he said, jumping at the sight of a random blonde in front of him.

Ashley.

"Uh, hi," he said. "Whoa, you scared me."

Ashley smiled back at him. "Good game," she said, holding out her hand.

"Um," Phil raised an eyebrow. This girl was officially creepy. "I beg your pardon?"

"Ashley!" Pim yelled, practically diving in front of her from out of nowhere. Phil watched her, surprised. Why was everyone so jumpy tonight!

"You're…you're early!" Pim exclaimed, laughing.

Phil examined them closely. Despite the fact that Pim was clinging to her and two seconds away from wrestling her to the ground, Ashley looked clueless, almost emotionless. Who just randomly showed up inside their friends' houses, anyway?

And…hadn't she been wearing that outfit the last time he saw her?

"Pim," he said slowly. "Can I ask you something? Or, actually, your friend?"

"Depends." She eyed her brother anxiously.

"Yeah, well, Ashley, I hope you don't take any offense at this," Phil continued. "But…hm, how do I say this…are you a fake, replicated human?"

"Phil, what kind of a question is that?" Pim demanded. "Ashley and I have stuff to do…"

"Like put her back into the magazine she came from?" Phil responded.

"Shhhhhhh!" Pim silenced him, looking around to make sure neither parent was within earshot. "Just keep it down okay? Yes, I got her from a magazine, but only so Mom would calm down about me getting someone to hang out with until my other friends…or enemies, depending on how you look at it…get back. She bought it, so it wasn't an entirely bad idea." She shrugged. "But, I guess I could have…picked somewhere else to Replicate her from. Even for a repli-girl with no actual brain or independent train of thought, she's got a few screws loose." She rolled her eyes.

Phil scoffed. "Pim, where exactly did you get a Replicator from?" he asked curiously. "I thought Mom took your stuff away after you got caught for changing your grades."

"You're gonna be late, Phil." Pim swiveled on her heel and made a break for the stairs, dragging Ashley behind her.

"No, I think I'm doing okay on time," he called after her. "But I know someone who's not gonna be doing that great on anything as soon as her brother tells —"

"Okay, shut up!" Pim whisper-yelled, facing her brother again. "You know, _you're _banned from gadgets now, too."

"But that wasn't because I stole a Replicator from my sibling's room." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Okay technically, 'stole' would mean that I still have it," Pim reasoned. "I'm thinking more like 'borrowed'…."

"You used it, is my point," Phil said. "Pim, I'm just asking that you don't take my stuff without my permission anymore, okay? It's kind of frusterating." He shrugged. He eyed Ashley strangely as she began doing lunges on their living room floor.

"Well, it's not like I'll have anything left to steal…borrow," Pim corrected herself. "Since Mom and Dad are bent on depriving their kids of anything that could possibly make life easy."

Phil sighed. "Well, where is my Replicator? Did you put it back in my room?"

"I tried," Pim responded, tugging Ashley to her feet as she was in the middle of a stretch.

"Tried?" Phil demanded.

"Um…well, turns out, Mom was upstairs. When I left my room…"

Pim flashed back. She had stopped at her door, looking every which way before stepping outside in a mad dash for Phil's room. She figured if she tossed the Replicator and ran, he'd never suspect a thing.

"Hi, honey!" Her mom came out of nowhere. "I didn't know you were up here."

Pim froze, holding it behind her back. "Um, yep."

"Listen, your dad and I are making smoothies downstairs. Well, we're going to try." She smiled sheepishly. "So if you want one, come on down. I'd better get down there before he tries doing it on his own though…"

"Oh, yeah, you better," Pim urged her, nervously.

"You okay?" her mom asked, eyeing her.

"Yeah." Pim tried to look confused. She felt trapped, knowing her mom was going to figure something out eventually.

"All right…" her mom responded without taking her eyes off of her daughter, but Pim took an opportunity while her she was distracted for just a second by adjusting an earring, and whipped the Replicator backwards into her room.

She cleared her throat to try and cover up the sound of it hitting the floor. When that was somewhat successful, she proceeded to "scratch he r back", since the weird sudden jerking of her arm had to look like something.

Barb of course, still looked a little wary… until there was a loud roaring followed by a series of other questionable sounds from downstairs.

She sighed. "Lloyd, I told you to wait for me!" she yelled, running down.

"…And it's still in there," Pim said, finishing her explanation and bringing them back to the present time. "It's just…"

"What?" Phil demanded. "Is it broken, after you chucked it like a softball?"

"No, not broken," Pim said slowly. "Just…incomplete."

"Huh?"

"Listen, can we talk about this somewhere else?" she asked. "Mom and Dad are going to figure out that she's a replicate the same way you did if I don't get her out of here."

"Sure we can," Phil answered in annoyance. "We can go upstairs and you can give me my Replicator back. Oh, and that little thing about it being incomplete? Yeah, you can explain that too."

"Okay, okay…" She tugged Ashley. "Come on, before you cause me any more trouble."

Once upstairs, the three of them entered Pim's room. Pim went over to her desk and yanked open one of the top drawers. "Here it is," she said, taking out the Replicator. Phil grabbed it back.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Phil turned it over in his hands, nodding. "So, the other reason I'm here?"

"Huh?"

"Pim." He narrowed his eyes.

"All right, fine. I'm bad at playing dumb anyways." She shuddered. "Anyway, I had her in the memory bank, but I needed to get the Replicator back to your room. So…I took out the memory bank. And then I was going to take it right back to your room—"

"Wait, what?" Phil asked, confused. "How did you know how to take out the memory bank?"

"Phil, when part of your ten year plan includes dominating most of the globe, you know how to take out a stinkin' memory bank."

"Uh, okay…" Phil sighed. "But what does that mean, then? I can't use it?"

"No, you can…but it just has no memory. In other words, none of the replicate information is stored, which means no intelligence is stored. So basically, all of your replicates will end up dumb as a post, kind of like this one." She looked over at Ashley, who had grabbed Pim's globe from her desk and was preparing to bunt it. Pim grabbed it away swiftly. "Which makes it hard to replicate stuff, because if there's no intelligence, you're going to have to supply that yourself. You're going to have to teach the clone basically how to speak and everything before it's useful at all."

"Okay…but, so what?" Phil asked. "Just put it back in. You used it for Ashley, and now you're done, so do it."

"Uhhh…I'll just come out, say it and get it over with. Don't exactly know how."

"WHAT?" Phil exclaimed. "Okay, so you can take it out, but not put it back in? My evil genius of a sister can't put a memory bank into a Replicator?"

"Right. I can take it out though."

"Obviously!" Phil sighed. "So basically, my Replicator is missing a crucial part right now. I've never had to know how to mess with the memory bank, so I don't know how to put it in either. The only person I know who would be able to figure that out is…"

"Dad." Pim finished. "And our parents have banned our future gadgets." She sighed. "Good thing yours is busted eh?"

Phil rolled his eyes. "Not help—" He noticed the clock beside Pim's bed.

"FIVE FIFTY!" he yelled. "I've gotta meet Keel now too!"

"Well, do you want this?" Pim asked, offering up the Replicator.

"I…I don't know!" he exclaimed. "Just…here. I'll put it back in my room…" He reached for it.

"Phil, there you are. Aren't you going to be late?"

Phil felt lucky to not have dropped the Replicator on his foot as his mom surprised both he and his sister suddenly, showing up in the doorway.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" she laughed, noticing the deer in headlights looks on both her children's faces. Then, she noticed Ashley.

"Oh, hi Ashley!" she said, smiling. "When did you get here?"

Before the clone could respond stupidly, Pim got her head together enough to do it for her. "Oh, just a few minutes ago," she answered.

"Oh, okay…" Barb nodded, as Phil and Pim tried not to appear too awkward and nervous, finding it near impossible.

"Well, anyway Phil," Barb continued. "Are you meeting Keely?"

"Yeah. Yep." He nodded, now finding himself in the same position Pim had been in, literally. Holding the Replicator behind his back.

Quickly, he shoved it into his back pocket.

"So I'd better go then." He smiled, slipping past his mom quickly. He positioned his hand casually over his pocket so his mom wouldn't see the weird lump. "Bye everyone." He made a break down the stairs.

Off to a party with a 22nd century cloning tool in his pocket. Well, at least he'd survived.

……………

Phil bounded up her front steps, breathless even though the walk, rather jog, to Keely's was just down the block. He rapped on the door, his own special and distinct knock. She'd know right away it was him.

As he stood there trying to catch his breath, he realized that in his hurry to get there before he was late, he'd probably ended up looking like a mess. He found a window (with the curtains closed inside) and checked out his reflection, brushing hair into place, smoothing out his shirt, even quickly checking his breath.

"So Keel…you know you're gorgeous, right?" he practiced suavely, but somehow nervously nonetheless, to an invisible Keely standing in front of him. "Because you are…"

"Phil?"

He snapped his head to the side so quickly he had to rub his neck. "Ow," he muttered. "Oh, Keel! Hi. Sorry, I…"

_Wait. What was I going to say? _

Well, whatever it was, he hadn't seen her look like this since…

_Wow._

She walked slowly forward, holding onto the strap of the purse over her shoulder with one hand, and there was something soft and shy about her. Phil wanted to slap himself across the face before the steady pounding of his heart got any louder. _You idiot, you've known her for years. Quit staring like you've never…_

_Never seen anyone like her in my life._

"Your hair," she said, smiling.

"My…what?"_ Correction, Phil. NOW you feel breathless. _

She giggled, reaching up to touch it for a second. "Your hair is different," she noticed immediately. "I really like it, Phil. Looks so good on you." Her eyes were sparkling. As a guy, it's hard to notice makeup. But on Keely, he did. _How does she do it like that? Does she have some kind of a professional artist at her house? How does she make it look so stunning but so un-cheesy and natural? That can't be easy…_

"Oh. Oh, good." He smiled brightly. "Thanks."

"You always look nice," Keely continued. He knew she was earnest. He just always knew. "I've always thought so."

"Well, you…wow." He tried to think of some adjectives as he took another look. She was just so…classy. Beautiful. The way she carried herself just amazed him.

Her clothes weren't the only thing, but they helped. Her strapless white sundress with a small red pinstripe pattern, cowboy boots, a long heart medallion and pearls strung around her neck, and big sunglasses perched perfectly on top of her head somehow made his heart race; this wasn't something she would ever wear to school, or to hang out at the mall. She reached up to take off the glasses, and her hair…he loved it that way. It was long and down and in loose curls, just pulled loosely halfway back, just her bangs left hanging naturally. She looked so grown up and…dazzling. He even saw a shimmer of glitter across the skin on her chest…

At the same time, something was striking her about the boy in front of her. Sure it was his hair, which she'd never seen him wear that way before. But it was also…just him. His aura, or whatever people like to call it. The jeans and shirt and hoodie combo, the way they just hugged him in all the right places and brought out the warmth of his face and the brown of his eyes, made her feel so attracted to him. It was the dreaminess of his face, the friendliness of his eyes, the boyishness of his slight crooked smile. It was the familiarity of him but the newness of his look all mixed together. It was a weird time to think such a thought, standing on your front porch right before a beach party, but she thought it anyway…

_He's gorgeous. _

"Thank you, Phil," she said finally. "I tried, I guess." She smiled, and she realized that her eyes had never left his face.

She drew in her breath. "I…I just have to hug you, okay?" she said suddenly, wrapping her arms around him.

He smiled slowly, placing his arms on her back as he warmly returned it. "Okay," he said.

"Just because…you're Phil," she explained further. "And… because you look _wow_, too."

He laughed, but neither one was saying anything when Melody stepped out onto the front porch. Phil saw first, as he was facing the door. When she saw them, she stifled a smile and hung back a moment. She was dressed in a white polo, denim miniskirt, black leggings and red flip flops. Her hair was down and straightened, even longer than it appeared in curls, with a black and white checkered scarf tied in as a headband. She also carried a bag, with a slung over her arm.

"You guys ready?" she asked. Phil chuckled as Keely jumped.

"Sorry Melody!" she apologized, smiling. Phil noticed the sheen of gloss on her lips. "We're ready. Is Mom? I mean, my mom?"

Melody nodded just as Mandy bustled out the front door, excited to be playing chauffeur for the night. Of course… she had a camera.

After a few pictures satisfied her, the front door opened. Keely looked over just briefly to see her father, standing on the porch with his hands shoved in his pockets, watching.

She made eye contact with him, and forced a smile. He smiled back at her. Her heart felt heavy. With disappointment, regret, shame, she wasn't sure what.

As they prepared to load into the car, he crossed the lawn slowly to them. "Hey, Keely," he said, just before she got into the car.

She paused, looking at him, holding onto the top of the door. "Yeah?" she answered softly, a strange hopefulness in her voice.

"Have fun." He smiled and nodded. As he did, she saw her own strong and striking features in his face.

"Th-thanks, Dad." She smiled, nodded at him, and suddenly, thought briefly about hugging him.

He smiled, returned the nod, turned around and walked back into the house.

Keely looked down at herself, back up at the closed front door, and slowly ducked into the passenger seat.

………………

_**Sorry about the long descriptions of clothes for those of you who are bored with that stuff, but I'm super into it. Ask any of my friends or familia. : )**_

_**I have a ton of the next chapter written but it's too late/I'm too tired to post it now. It'll be up by like tomorrow night, late. Kay, thanks guys. :D **_


	13. Let's Enjoy it While it Lasts

Somehow, her parents hadn't noticed. Yet.

As far as they were concerned, Ashley was still just Pim's friend, nothing clonelike about her. Or at least Pim hoped. Even though she was wearing the same outfit as when they'd first met, they seemed pretty oblivious so far. Pim was doing all she could to speak for Ashley, so something ridiculous involving soccer wouldn't come out. If it did, she laughed and explained how much Ashley simply loved the sport. They seemed to be content with it; the girl may not say much, but she was polite.

So now, there they all were, sitting around the living room carrying out Barb's promise of a popcorn and movie night. Pim so far had no idea what the movie was about. She was basically preoccupied with getting Ashley out of there as soon as possible.

"Ashley, I hope you like comedies, by the way," Barb said, grabbing a handful of popcorn and passing the bowl to her husband. "They're a Diffy favorite." She smiled.

Pim tensed up, turning to Ashley. She looked into the clone's eyes, and said firmly, "Yes." She added a nod and a smile, hoping Ashley would pick up on it…

"Yes," Ashley repeated, smiling and nodding. Pim turned and smiled at her parents.

"Yeah," she repeated. "We always used to talk about that in class, you know, how we both like comedies and stuff…"

Fearing she was acting too strange, she quickly reached for the popcorn. She remembered to forget to say please. That would show them she was still herself.

She took it from her dad, then grabbed a handful. For good measure she spoke through a mouthful. "Popcorn?" she mumbled, shoving it in Ashley's direction. She chewed until she was more understandable. "It's good. Eat. Like this." She shoved more in her mouth to demonstrate.

Ashley looked down at the popcorn, finally grabbing a handful and doing just as Pim had done. She grabbed another handful, shoved it in, then another…

"Okay, that's enough," Pim said, staring at her oddly as she yanked away the bowl.

Ashley, who now had popcorn kernels all down the front of her shirt and on her lap, grabbed for some more. "Eh' goo! Ehh! I iss!" she mumbled.

"Huh?" Pim asked, a bizarre expression her face.

Barb was now looking at Ashley the same way, and although it took a moment longer for Lloyd to pull himself away from the movie and notice, he did too.

Ashley chewed a bit more, then repeated herself, and Pim. "It's good! Eat! Like this!"

"Uh huh, yeah." Pim nodded, eyebrows raised. "It's good, but not that good…."

"Not that good," Ashley repeated, a kernel falling from her lips.

Pim looked at her parents, who were both trying not to flat out stare at Ashley with confused expressions. It was barely working.

"Ooooh! Curtis know popcorn when he smell it!" the loveable caveman exclaimed as he hurried into the room suddenly.

On his mad dash to the source of the smell, which was all over Ashley, he shoved past Pim and knocked over the centerpiece on the coffee table, a vase with flowers.

It went flying before gravity caught it and began to drag it down. In a fraction of a second, Ashley was up off the couch, popcorn falling everywhere.

"I GOT IT!" she screamed, rushing for the vase.

Three Diffys and an adopted caveman stared as Ashley as she dove underneath the vase, hit it upwards with her head…

And the glass shattered, water and flowers flying.

"Oh my goodness!" Barb yelled, standing up. "Ashley! What…why…are you…okay?"

Ashley just stood there, dripping with water and a flower clinging to her hair, totally unfazed. She turned and looked at Barb, Lloyd and Pim, and instead of answering gave them a thumbs up. Then she jogged over to the other side of the room, where she continued to run in place, staring intensely at nothing.

It was then that Barb and Lloyd slowly turned their gaze over to their daughter, who just sat on the couch, almost as stunned as they were. She met their eyes meekly.

"I mentioned she was a fun girl, right?" she finally asked, forcing a laugh.

"Yes," Barb responded, nodding slowly. "And I think there are also a few things you_ didn't_ mention." She looked over at Ashley again, and highly suspiciously.

That was when Pim knew there was no way out of this one.

"Why would she do that?" Lloyd whispered to Barb, eyeing Ashley.

Barb rolled her eyes.

"Pim," she said, turning to her daughter. "Where'd you get it?"

Pim looked down confusedly, or at least acting like it. "Oh, this necklace?" she asked sweetly, holding it up. "Well you got it for me for my last Nirday, remem—"

"Um, no. Not the necklace, Pim." She sighed. "I want you to go and get the Replicator and give it to me, please."

Pim gulped, looking over at her replicate "friend" who was now attempting to balance a small potted plant on top of her head. Lloyd quickly went over and grabbed it away.

"Um…I_ would_…" Pim stammered.

"And you probably should," her mom replied sternly.

"You're right. Except…"

"Where's the Replicator, Pim?"

Pim looked up at Barb. "Can I explain it while we're in the car, going to get it from Phil?"

Barb looked surprised and confused, but sighed.

"Yes, I think you owe me that much," she responded, looking over at Lloyd, who was trying to deal with the clone and the shattered vase at the same time, and Curtis, who was working on cleaning up her spilled popcorn by consuming all of it.

"Let's just go." She guided her daughter towards the door. "Lloyd, we'll be right back, don't let her break anything else…lock her in the garage if you need to…"

……

Keely, Phil and Melody crossed the sand, the warm saltiness of the breeze tossing their hair. So far, at least a dozen other H.G. Wells students milled around the beach. Keely and Phil smiled and said hi to a few. It didn't take long to find Via.

"Keely! Phil!" she exclaimed, running over to hug each of them. "Oh…my…gosh. Keely, you look amazing." She smiled ear to ear.

"Thanks, Via," Keely answered. "I love this." She motioned to Via's outfit, the one she had described on the phone earlier.

"Thank you." Via smiled kindly. "Melody," she added warmly, "I am so glad you made it."

Melody looked at Via, almost surprised that she had been acknowledged. "Oh, yeah, well," she replied. "Thanks for inviting me." Keely looked at her cousin and offered a smile.

"So, come on, come on," Via urged them along. "I've got so much food over here it's not even funny. We've got hamburgers and hot dogs and there's punch and four kinds of soda and my dad should be bringing the pizzas around before long…"

Before any of them knew it, they were standing by the food, with nothing left to do but reach for a plate and start picking things out. Phil picked up three and handed them out to the girls.

Just as Keely reached for a handful of chips, someone grabbed the same bag. "Hey, what the?" she demanded.

"Huh?" Owen responded through a mouthful of the chips.

"OH! Keely, hey! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." He laughed, and chip crumbs flew out of his mouth. Melody stepped back, disgusted.

"Here ya go." He handed the bag to her, and she gingerly took it, setting it back on the table.

"Diff-O! How's it goin' man?" Owen asked Phil, slapping hands with him.

"It's going." Phil grinned. He tried not to stare at the pieces of chip clinging to Owen's chin.

"Sweet party so far huh?" he asked. "Not that I wasn't expecting it. Hot hostess, lots of food, hot girls, food, and…" He stopped when his eyes landed on Melody.

It took her a second to realize he was staring at her, and when she did she raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Well," Owen grinned. "Here's one I haven't dated…I mean met, yet."

Melody looked surprised.

"Excuse me?"

Keely stepped between her and Owen, trying to block the daggers Melody was shooting at him with her eyes. "This is Owen," she began. "And…yeah. I'll explain the rest later."

Melody tossed some hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes.

Owen grabbed a cup of pineapple punch and took a slurp. "May I offer you some?" he asked Melody, holding it out. "From my lips to—"

"She's good, Owen," Phil stopped him. He looked over at Melody and shook his head, attempting to apologize with the expression on his face.

Owen finished the rest of his punch and spooned some more into the cup, gulping it down. "So, you two know each other?" he asked her and Keely, before they could walk away.

Melody looked disgustedly at the sand, obviously refusing to answer. Keely nodded.

"Yeah, this is my cousin," she explained. "She and her dad are in town and they're staying with…" She paused. "They're in town," she finished, never knowing what lengths Owen would go to.

Phil nodded at her, hiding his smile. Melody saw his face, and did the same.

"Okay, cool." Owen nodded. "Does this cousin have a name?"

"Nope." Melody turned and grabbed some food from the table to put onto her plate.

Phil sighed. "Hey, Owen, look," he pointed. "There's some girls over there who need help putting up that volleyball net."

"Where?" he exclaimed, spitting punch. "Whoa dude, I hope they need help bumping and spiking too, 'cuz I'm there!" He slapped Phil of the back as he took off.

Melody looked stunned.

"Uh…" Keely bit her lip. "Melody, let me just say that he's one of those guys that takes a little…getting used to."

"He's an idiot." Melody stuck a chip in her mouth.

"Well…" Keely giggled. "Yeah, kinda."

Phil laughed and grabbed part of a sub sandwich. "Well come on guys, tell me how you feel," he joked.

Keely shook her head. "I know, it sounds mean…"

Phil took a bite of his sandwich. "Hey, I hope they need help bumping and spiking!" he mimicked Owen, his mouth full. "Don't hate me 'cuz I get all the ladies, Keely."

Keely and Melody both found themselves cracking up.

"Wait, so he actually gets some?" Melody scoffed, watching him pretend to be engaged in conversation with one of the volleyball girls while looking over her shoulder at another one in a pretty revealing top.

"Oh, I never said that," Phil added, smiling.

"Oh. Right." Melody smiled back.

Somewhere nearby, somebody turned up the music, and loud bass started pumping. Keely saw Bruno talking to Via, and he gave her a thumbs up when she put on his requested music. Afterwards, he ambled over by the refreshment area, where of course, he ran into Keely, Phil and Melody.

"Hey guys!" he greeted them, grabbing two sections of the sub sandwich and, to their disgust, dipping one in a bowl of cole slaw. "Keely, you look great."

"Oh…thanks, Bruno," she said, smiling but inwardly hoping he hadn't just looked her up and down like she thought he had. Phil didn't seem to be bothered by it; he just smiled at her. But he did put his arm around her back gently.

Bruno noticed Melody. "Hey," he said, grinning. "I haven't seen you around. You go to H.G. Wells?"

"Um, not yet," she answered.

"Oh," he said. "Well…let me know when ya do." He winked at her.

Keely looked warily at her cousin, whose mouth was hanging open. Melody shook her head. "Wow," she said. "Wow. Is that all guys ever do around here? Hit on girls they barely know?"

Bruno looked confused. "Well, uh…if that's what you want," he shrugged.

"No!" Melody exclaimed. "No, thank you. You don't even know me, dude. Forget it." She grabbed her plate and walked off.

Keely watched her cousin go, stunned. She turned back to Bruno and Phil, and saw Phil's eyebrows knit together and Bruno just staring stupidly.

Finally, he took another bite of his sandwich and laughed. "Something I said?" he asked.

Keely sighed, looking over her shoulder for her cousin. "She's a little sensitive, Bruno," she replied. "You just have to watch what you say."

He shrugged. "Oh," he responded. "Well…you know what they say. You win some, you lose some." He chewed some more. "Know what I mean, Phil?"

Phil shrugged, confused. "Not really."

Keely put a hand on Phil's shoulder. "I'm gonna…" She motioned in the direction Melody had gone.

"Okay." He nodded, smiling a little. "I'll be here. Mingling. You know."

"All right." Keely smiled before turning to go.

Phil hung around the table casually, grabbing some more chips and filling himself up a cup of punch. He thought he might find Via and see what she was up to. He had just spotted her over by Owen, trying to convince him that she was not interested in learning to crush a soda can on her head, when the music was cut off suddenly.

People looked over to the huge speakers to see what had happened. "Uh, sorry," Phil heard someone say, and craned his neck to see who it was. Some blonde girl had tripped over a cord. He saw Via hurrying over to fix it. He shrugged and wandered away from the table.

Keely walked through the steadily growing crowd of people, smiling and nodding to some on her way to find Melody. Suddenly, she ran into Via. Literally.

"Oh, sorry!" they said in unison. "Hey, Keely," Via sighed. "Someone decided to cut off the music, I've gotta go fix it."

"It's okay," Keely responded. "Hey, Vi, have you seen my cousin around anywhere? Like, by herself?"

Via shook her head, slowly. "No, can't say I have," she replied. "Why? Have you lost her?"

"Well, she…ran off," Keely responded. "Bruno said something stupid to her and she kind of just…snapped."

"Uh oh." Via looked around, concerned. "Well, there's not too many places she could have gone. You'll find her. Come find me if you don't."

"Okay," Keely responded. "Thanks." She watched Via hurry towards the speakers.

The young blonde gritted her teeth as she walked through the sand, pushing past random teenagers, who were now all freaked out because she had accidentally tripped over the speaker cord and in turn shut off their precious music. Why had she agreed to this? She could have just made up some excuse about where it was.

I could have blamed it on Curtis, she thought.

Pim stood in the middle of high school party she hadn't exactly been invited to, looking around for the idiotic brother who had somehow managed to get her into this mess without even trying. Wasn't she supposed to be the one who was that good?

"This is hopeless," she said, eyeing a couple of guys who were looking at her curiously.

"I'm not on display, fellas," she snapped. "That'll be a dollar if you wanna stare any longer."

They moved on, looking confused.

Pim yanked at the bottom of her shirt, moving on herself. So far, she saw absolutely nobody that she knew. If she could just find her brother's adorable sunshine-y girlfriend, or that British girl they hung out with, he'd most likely be with them. They'd probably think she was insane, but hey, she was.

After scanning around her all 180 degrees and not seeing them in any of it, she sighed. "This is shot," she mumbled. A guy passing by whistled at her. She stopped and looked at him, horrified.

"Please!" she exclaimed. "You? This?" She motioned to herself and scoffed.

Once the guy was gone, she looked around, uneasily. "This is almost scary. I am so above them." she muttered. "I'm out of here." She made a break for it.

Once in the safety of the parking lot, she thought up a way to tell her mom she couldn't find Phil. "It was scary in there, I'm telling you. And Phil was nowhere, Mom, I swear," she practiced. "He and Keely probably ran off somewhere and…"

She stopped when she realized that another blonde, sitting on one of the cement curbs of the parking lot, was looking at her curiously.

"What?" Pim asked her. "You don't carry on conversations with yourself?"

The girl just looked confused. "Not usually."

Pim sighed, looking for her mom's car. She saw it parked on the far end of the lot.

"Yeah, well, let me just give you a word of advice," Pim told her. "Before you go in there, don't. This parking lot is probably the safest part of that party."

The blonde laughed. "I was in there already," she said. "I know."

"Oh." Pim nodded. "Well, what did they do, kick you out for not being as dim-witted as they are?"

"No." The girl ran her hand through her long tresses. "I left."

"Smart one," Pim commented.

"Thanks, I guess." The girl half smiled. "I shouldn't have even come, period. I'm beginning to think that _everyone_ around here is a moron." She looked dismally down at the pavement.

Pim laughed. "Wow," she said. "You and I are on the exact same page."

The girl smiled, looking up again. "So, you're leaving for the same reason?"

Pim shrugged. "Well…technically, I wasn't invited. I'm just here to look for my thickheaded brother. My mom sent me. I need to get his, uh, cell phone from him," she covered. "You uh, didn't happen to see him in there did you? Brown hair, not very tall, probably has his adorable little blonde girlfriend attached to his arm?"

The girl looked up curiously.

"I… think I might know two people who fit that description, actually," she said. Then she added, "Did you…say something about Keely when you were walking out here?"

"You know her?"

"She's my cousin."

Pim raised her eyebrows. "Wow," she commented. "You're the cousin?"

"Melody," the girl responded.

"What?"

"That's my name." Melody replied. "And...what do you mean, 'the' cousin? How'd you know about me? You're not related to Keely too are you?"

"No," Pim replied, shaking her head vigorously. "But who knows, I might be someday." She halfway rolled her eyes. "My brother is her boyfriend. Best friend slash boyfriend. Whatever." She drew a slash mark in the air with her finger as she said it. "And considering the amount of time Keely spends at our house, I've heard about you."

Melody laughed, understanding. "So _you're_ Phil's sister," she remarked. "Yeah, he was talking about you."

"Hm, do tell," Pim prodded, raising one eyebrow.

Melody shrugged. "Oh, you know, just that Keely and I are lucky to be the only children and stuff like that."

Pim nodded. "Oh," she said indifferently.

"So, you have a…kind of unusual name, right?" Melody asked. "Not to be rude or anything, but I just remember Phil saying your name when he was on the phone with you…"

"Pim," she replied. "And anyone who makes fun of this girl's name will probably be working for her one day, so it doesn't bother me."

Melody laughed. "Good one."

"Pim, are you ready?" Barb yelled out the window of the car.

Pim sighed. "Yes, Mother," she called back obediently. "Sorry, but I'm already in trouble. I'd better get going before Mom gives me a life sentence or something like that."

"Wait," Melody told her, standing up. "If you want me to get Phil and Keely for you, I could find them. Actually… Keely's probably looking for me right now, after I walked out on them." She looked back towards the beach.

Pim considered it for a moment. She was already in trouble, but at least if she was able to prove Phil had the Replicator, she wouldn't be the only one.

"Okay," she agreed. "Sounds fair. But…that means going back in there, right?"

Melody laughed. "Unfortunately, it's the only way."

Pim shuddered.

"One more minute, Mom," she called, and followed Melody back in.

Keely sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt like such a bad cousin, and a bad person overall. How could she just let her cousin walk off like that? Now, she had no idea where Melody was. It was her fault for not going after her right away…

She looked around for Phil. He could help. Maybe he'd found Melody already. Maybe…

"Keely," someone said, and she turned quickly.

"Melody!" she said. "There you are! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry…about Bruno, and Owen…I'm sorry if you feel like I forced you to come, because…"

"Keely, don't worry about it," Melody responded. "It's not your fault that the guys at H.G. Wells, with the exception of yours, are total creeps. Speaking of your guy, where's Phil? There's someone here for him."

"Someone…?" Keely began, as Pim caught up to Melody. She was still looking around in disgust at the partygoers.

"Pim!" Keely said, surprised. "What's going on?"

"Where's Phil?" was Pim's only response. "Mom sent me for him."

"He was over by the food the last time I saw him," Keely answered, confused. "Did something happen?"

"No," Pim replied. "Well, besides the fact that we're both kind of in trouble now, and I'll be in deeper trouble if I don't find him. After that I'll leave you guys alone to have your fun."

"Um, okay," Keely responded. "Well, if you're going to go look for him, you'd better stick with us. It could get dangerous…" She watched two guys throwing a football back and forth, which ended up narrowly missing her head.

"Danger isn't what I'm worried about," Pim remarked with a wave of her hand. "I just find myself a bit disgusted, especially knowing that I'll be one of these…_high schoolers_ next year." She winced, as if she were in pain.

Melody laughed. "You're not the only one," she replied. "No offense, Keely."

Keely just shook her head. "None taken," she answered. "Now come on." She led them through the crowd.

"Couldn't you just call his cell phone or something?" Melody suggested.

Keely snapped her fingers. "Good idea." She took it out of her bag, pressing number 2 on speed dial, Phil's number. (Second to her mom, of course.) She put it to her ear, putting a hand over the other one to block out as much party noise as she could.

Back at the house, Lloyd slammed the door of the first bedroom he was able to shove Ashley into, locking it. "Now just…stay in there and don't kick anything," he called, walking away nervously.

The replicate stood in Phil's empty bedroom, looking around. A loud ringing distracted her.

She walked over to the source of the sound, Phil's cell phone ringing on his bedside table. She picked it up, turned it over in her hands curiously, then dropped it back down and walked away.

"He's not answering," Keely said after several rings, closing her phone. "That's weird."

"He's probably eating or something," Pim said. "It's what guys do."

"Yeah, maybe." Keely looked over towards the refreshment table, but didn't see him.

"Well, if we don't find him soon, it'll be my butt and his," Pim grumbled.

"Why?" Keely asked. "What happened anyway?"

"Oh…you know our family," Pim said, locking eyes with Keely. "Something's always coming up."

Keely looked back at her, and nodded in realization, getting the message. "Ohh… right." Although she still looked confused, she didn't question it anymore.

"Wait, is that him?" Melody asked, pointing. Pim and Keely swiveled around. "Where?" Keely asked.

Then, they spotted him. He stood holding onto one end of a limbo stick – where it had come from, none of them knew – while Owen held onto the other. The difference between them, though, was that while Owen looked completely ecstatic to be witnessing girl after girl maneuver underneath it, Phil looked like he was plotting to make a break for it any second.

Keely covered her mouth with one hand, giggling. Melody snickered too. Pim flat out burst into laughter.

"That is just ridiculous," she exclaimed, still cracking up.

"Looks like Owen volunteered him," Keely guessed, shaking her head. "I'll save him."

"Oh no, let me enjoy it for a few more minutes," Pim begged, crossing her arms over her chest. "I might be banished to the house for a few days, and this could be my last chance at entertainment for a while."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find something else, Pim," Keely laughed. "I'm going to get your poor brother."

Keely crossed the sand to Phil, Melody and Pim following a little ways behind. When he spotted her, complete relief came over his features.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Having fun, Phil?" She tried desperately to hold back laughter.

"How about you play, Keel?" he retorted, giving the limbo stick a shake. "Maybe then it would be fun."

"No, I'm not feeling very…" She eyed one of the more flexible girls as she bent underneath it, to the responding cheers of the people around her. "…Like that, right now."

"Well to be honest, I'm not feeling very 'like this' right now." He shook the stick again as he said it.

"Hey, Keel!" Owen spoke up, pulling his head together enough to realize she was there. "What do you say?" He flicked his head towards the rest of the limbo-ing girls, suggestively.

Phil and Keely rolled their eyes in unison.

"I'm good, Owen," Keely said.

Phil looked over then and noticed Melody. "Oh hey! You guys found each other."

"Yeah," Melody said as she nodded. "And I found someone else you know, too."

Pim stepped up in front her brother. "Phil, make it quick, Mom's waiting."

"Whoa, Pim? What?" Phil looked dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because I need something from you."

"What could you possibly need from me that you think you could get right …" He trailed off as it came together for him.

Pim saw this, and nodded. "Right. And the sooner I get it, the less trouble we'll be in. Maybe. I don't know."

Phil sighed, looking at Keely. Her expression told him that she knew. Melody obviously didn't, though. Or so he hoped.

"All right," he said. "Owen, I'm gonna need you to find me a replacement for this."

"Aw, why?" he said. "The competition's heatin' up bro!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it is. But I've really gotta get out of here." Phil had no choice but to drop the stick, which ended up hitting the girl underneath it square in the chin. Phil jumped, looking apologetic. "Sorry!" he exclaimed before quickly turning to leave, grabbing his sister by the arm.

Keely knew this was a Diffy only conversation, so she and Melody stood back and watched them go. "What's the big deal anyway?" Melody asked her. "They seem all wigged out."

Keely shrugged. "Nothing," she replied. "They just one of those family plans you know? Their mom, uh…gets kind of mad if they go over their minutes."

"Oh." Melody nodded. "Well… Pim's actually pretty cool."

Keely smiled a little, glancing at her cousin. "I've never met anyone like her before," she agreed. "Never met anyone like any of them…"

They were both quiet for a moment, until Melody broke the silence.

"That kid is still holding the limbo stick. By himself," she commented, watching Owen do whatever he could to continue his game. "Geez, he doesn't flippin' quit!"

And sure enough, he was.

……..

"So, what's the verdict?" Keely asked Phil. The sun had sunk, leaving only the faintest leftover blush of the sky, dotted with the first couple of stars that had decided to show.

Phil slipped a marshmallow onto the skewer he held, holding out over the large bonfire that had been started. Keely grabbed the bag from him, taking out a couple of her own.

"Well," he replied. "So far, Pim's grounded for a few days, and I get to wait until I get home to find out what my punishment is, if I get one." He shrugged. "It's safe and sound back at our house now, though. That's the good part. I completely forgot I had it with me."

Keely nodded, knowing what he was referring to without having to ask. Her marshmallows joined his next to the flame. "Good, Phil. I'm glad you didn't get into too much trouble."

Melody sat down next to them, a soda in hand. "Oh, s'mores," she observed. "Where're the marshmallows?"

"Here ya go." Keely handed her the bag.

"Thanks." Melody took a skewer that Keely handed over, impaling her marshmallows on it.

A far off memory snuck into Keely's mind, at the sight of her cousin and those marshmallows. The glow of the fire flickered against Melody's features, showing a side Keely recognized from below the surface of a distressed, tough teenager in a new place.

"This time," she commented, pulling her half melted marshmallows away from the fire, "I think I'll keep a better eye on mine."

Melody looked over at her, obviously puzzled. "On your what?"

"My marshmallows." Keely wiggled the end of the skewer, carefully pulling one off and slapping it onto the waiting chocolate and graham cracker. "So they aren't stolen."

She eyed her cousin as Melody racked her brain for what Keely could mean. "Stolen…?"

Keely nodded, placing another cracker on top, forming the perfect s'more. "The reunion," she answered simply, taking a bite.

Melody's eyes flickered, and it wasn't from the flame. Slowly, she broke out into a remembering smile, and chuckled.

Phil smiled a little, not quite sure if he'd heard this story, but noticing a moment of softness from Melody. It reminded him of… his sister. No wonder they'd gotten along.

"I had totally forgotten," Melody said, still grinning. "Uh, sorry about that, by the way..."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Keely responded. "I forgive four-year-old Melody for her horrible crime."

Melody just laughed again. "Crackers?" she requested.

Phil handed the box over.

Keely exchanged a glance and a smile with him. As the sunset began to disappear, she lay her head on his shoulder.

"I like this," she said.

"The party?" Phil asked, biting into his s'more.

"Well, yeah," she responded. "But I like everything else, too. I like the sky, the fire, the beach, the water. I like just kicking my shoes off. Isn't the sand warm?"

Phil put his arm around her, pulling her a little closer.

"It is really warm," he replied. "I like it here too Keel. I like _everything_ here." He pressed his cheek into the top of her head as he said it.

"Ouch!" Melody exclaimed. Both Phil and Keely looked her way.

"Burned myself on the freakin' marshmallow. Sorry." She shrugged apologetically.

Keely laughed and lay her head back down.

"Hey guys! Save some for me will ya?" Owen yelled from behind them. He gave them a thumbs up as he chased down Via.

"Yeah, sure thing." Phil rolled his eyes. "He'll forget about the s'mores in five minutes."

"That long, you think?" Keely yawned.

Phil smiled down at her as he popped the last of his s'more into his mouth. "You're tired," he observed.

"I am not…" Her voice was slow and lazy.

"Maybe if you hadn't been up at the crack of dawn practically laying out your outfit for this party," Melody suggested. "Just saying." She began roasting another marshmallow.

Keely laughed tiredly. "Yeah, I was stressing. I'll admit it."

"Maybe we should leave in a little bit," Phil proposed. "I can find Via so we can say goodbye…"

"No, not yet," Keely answered. "Let's just…sit here for a bit. Together. Enjoy the night before it ends." She sighed sleepily. "Three weeks of this left, and then school starts…"

"I know," Phil answered. Melody just zoned out at the fire, looking contemplative.

"So let's enjoy it while it lasts. Promise, Phil?"

"I do, Keel." He looked down at her, only to see the top of her blonde head. "We will."

Keely was quiet for several moments. Finally, Phil heard Melody chuckle.

"What?" he asked, snapping out of the trance the fire was putting him into.

"She's drooling on your shoulder."

Phil looked down. Sure enough, Keely had fallen asleep.

He laughed gently, looking at Melody. She smiled back at him, then looked away. Phil didn't care if Keely did drool on him. He had promised her and himself to enjoy it. All of it.


	14. Midnight Snack

Keely fell down upon her bed, feeling like one of those girls from a 1950's movie, one who had just arrived home from the best first date of her life, in a dramatic and exhausted motion, a smile on her face.

"I…am…sooo…" She paused to yawn. "Tired."

"Well, we managed to get you home from your picture perfect date before you turned into a pumpkin," Melody told her, getting her things ready for bed.

Keely sighed, laying in her full party outfit on her bed, eyes closed.

"Wait," she said finally. "Isn't it the carriage that turns into a pumpkin?"

There was no response for several seconds. Keely felt her brain just slowly shutting itself down…and then was startled awake, or at least opened her eyes, as she heard a sudden strum of guitar chords.

She looked down to see Melody absently holding her guitar in her lap.

"Whatever," her cousin responded. "It's not like my life's a fairy tale or anything. I wouldn't know." She chuckled a little, as if she couldn't decide whether or not that had been a joke.

She strummed the chords once more, and her eyes were lost in it. Keely just lay there, propped up on her elbow, looking at Melody, whose face was currently obscured by her long, straight hair.

After a moment, Melody glanced up absentmindedly. It was then she noticed Keely staring; Keely hadn't even tried to stop. Maybe her reaction time was too slow being as tired as she was, or maybe she just wasn't as fazed by her cousin's emotions anymore.

"What?" Melody wondered, sure enough.

Keely just shook her head slowly, thoughtfully. But finally, her gaze fell to her bedspread.

"I'm just…it's…" She sounded like she were stumbling over her words, but for some reason, tonight, she wasn't. In her brain, half clouded with the need for sleep, she was just trying to put together exactly what she wanted to say, or so she guessed.

"Are you upset here?" Keely asked Melody, surprising herself almost as soon as she'd said it, despite everything. She just wanted to know. She wanted to help. She was kind of tired of feeling like she couldn't.

Yet it was Melody's face that was the real surprise.

She didn't pause or falter at all. She looked up, her expression flat and free of any regret or sorrow. She tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Well, yeah," she answered simply, shrugging.

Keely just stared back. Melody strummed a few more times, as actual tunes began to form softly.

"_Well, yeah"? _

Now, she was taken aback. Keely sat up some more, clearing her throat quickly.

"Uh…" She sighed, pushing some hair away from her face. "I guess I figured that much."

Melody stopped playing for a minute, but didn't look up. "Do you blame me?" she asked.

Keely's mouth fell open for a moment, then closed, trying to form words that weren't forming. She felt like a fish.

"I…" She shook her head, grabbing for her teddy bear, barely even realizing she was doing it. "I don't know." Her voice came out smaller than she'd anticipated.

Melody chuckled a bit.

Keely sighed. "Well, what about the party?" she asked finally. "I thought you had fun. I mean, after…well…you had fun." She looked down at her lap, knowing full well not to go there. Of course, she'd probably already gone too far.

Melody nodded slowly, looking up, but not at her cousin.

"It was cool," she answered simply. "Decent music, nice beach…good s'mores." She shrugged. "I just didn't think guys were that pathetic of a specimen until I got to Pickford."

Keely scoffed. "You think all guys are like that?"

Melody nodded. "Well, I haven't met any that weren't so far," she replied. "Well, besides Phil of course. Who's your boyfriend. You got lucky. So, remember that."

Keely didn't know what to say. "I…"

Melody placed her guitar gently back in its case.

Keely sighed. "Yes, I am lucky to have Phil, but—"

"See?" Melody responded. "Just don't worry about it. You're nice, Phil's nice, it just always works out like that. Some people deserve it and others…obviously don't."

As she said this, she stood up, grabbing a bag with some belongings in it. "I'm tired. I'm gonna go get ready for bed." She turned to go, leaving Keely speechless behind her. "Sorry to keep you up."

"Okay, I…" But her words faded into the quiet left behind by her cousin as Melody left Keely's bedroom for the bathroom.

Keely just stared at the doorway.

"I'm the lucky one," she repeated to herself. "The lucky one?"

She looked over at the picture of she and Phil on her nightstand, and the digital clock that told her it was way past midnight.

Looking back down at Melody's bed, she could see the edge of a black notebook from underneath her pillow.

Her eyes fixed on it. Melody always held it away from anyone else. It was something she seemed to write in a lot. It was obviously something she wanted no one else to see.

So why, especially after tonight, was Keely's brain ticking at the sight of it?

She swallowed.

What are you thinking, Keely? You can't.

So she did the only thing she could think of. She kicked the notebook fully underneath Melody's pillow, so she could no longer see it.

Sighing, she sat back on her bed.

She was so tired.

She could faintly hear water running in the bathroom.

_The lucky one._

She cushioned her head with a pillow, her wandering thoughts oddly hypnotizing.

It was the last thing she remembered.

* * *

Phil sauntered into the kitchen, comfortably donning his pj's, deciding against turning on all the lights. He whistled quietly as he swung open one of the refrigerator doors, bathing half the room in the glow of it.

He grabbed a carton of milk from the shelf quickly, then closed the door. As he did, he nearly spilled the milk down the front of himself.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he jumped. When he'd caught his breath, and was able to adjust his eyes a little bit, he found himself face to face with his sister, who stood in her bathrobe, long blonde hair falling around her shoulders, on the other side of the door.

He sighed. "Well, let's see," he began. "I could ask Pim what she's doing downstairs in a completely dark kitchen at 12:30 in the morning. Or, I could get my glass of milk and go back upstairs, and not care." He tapped his finger against his chin, pretending to ponder it. "Hmm. As tempting as it is to go with the latter, somehow I've just gotta know." He eyed her. "What…?" He motioned around the room with his hand.

Pim shrugged. "Oh, just admiring the woodwork," she responded, gesturing to the cabinets. "Wonderful craftsmanship, don't you think?" Even in the dark, he could see her wide blue eyes sparkling.

Phil poured some of the milk into a glass. "Why do you even bother? You never use the word 'craftsmanship' unless you're talking about building a prisoner's camp for all your minions or something."

Pim smiled in agreement, looking totally delighted at the idea.

"So because I'm far from that stupid, you might as well tell me." Phil sipped the milk.

"Well, you know me well enough to know that once I get a punishment, that basically translates directly to 'Do everything you can to figure out a way out of it'," she replied. "Sure, most of the time it doesn't work, but I can't _not_ fight it. It's standard procedure."

Phil shook his head. "First thing in the morning, I'm asking Mom to take us to have blood tests done," he stated. "Once it's officially on paper that we have absolutely none of the same DNA whatsoever, they'll have to believe us."

"Yeah, I always figured I looked more like our parents," Pim shrugged. "Sorry. I'm sure they still love you no matter what."

Phil rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I was looking at that a bit differently, but whatever," he replied. "So, about you being down here by yourself?"

"You have any idea where they would have hidden…_them_?" Pim whispered the last word, after glancing around as if making sure that nobody was around to hear.

Phil looked around too, and waved his sister in closer. She leaned in, leaving barely a couple inches between their faces.

Phil leaned in closer, secretively.

"No," he whispered.

Pim rolled her eyes.

"Okay, thanks for that," she scoffed. "What good are you?"

Phil put the milk back into the fridge. "Give it up, Pim, you won't find them. So up to bed now, little one," he told her teasingly. "Or Santa Claus won't come."

Pim crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him like he'd started speaking Russian.

"What exactly _did _you have to drink at that party?" she questioned.

"Oh, a dangerous and exotic drink that people around here like to call _fruit punch_," he responded, waving his hands around dramatically. He laughed to himself, ruffling Pim's hair furiously as he passed.

"Oww," she muttered, shoving his hand away.

"Ow," he mimicked.

Pim scoffed. "Well, I'm sure it wasn't the punch that would give it away. I think you dropped about seven IQ points just by being there, so don't be surprised if Mom gives you Curtis's rawhide bone in the morning instead of breakfast."

"And you were there for what? Two minutes?" Phil asked.

"Too_ long_," she answered. "And that was just after I finally located you, thanks to Keely's cousin, who's actually got her marbles together. A first for Pickford. Besides me. She should be front page news."

"Yeah, and then you guys both would have had your turn in the spotlight! Pim Diffy for being socially challenged enough to not make it onto the Fashion Zombie sleepover guest list, and Melody for…" He paused. "What expression did you use?"

Trying not to fume over the memory her brother had stirred up over Candida, she just smiled.

"I've got a million of 'em," she replied. "Take your pick."

………..

_**You know what time it is right now? 2:56 in the morning. I was watching Roseanne, typing a little, checking the Myspace, typing a bunch more and then all the sudden it's almost 3 AM. Holy wow. I feel like I've been on here a really long time. Bedtime, loves.**_

_**Yeah, things are getting a little tense now. oooh.**_

**_Reviews? _**


	15. Treasure Hunt?

Keely flipped through the catalogue, never holding her bright pink pen too far away from the pages. She was on a mission. A mission that began every year approximately two weeks before school started, a mission that no matter what else was going on, she had to make time to carry out. "Awww!" she exclaimed, quickly circling a white pleated skirt.

It was back to school clothes shopping time, and with her fall edition of the Delia's catalogue in hand, she was invincible.

This was one of the only things, besides rehearsing for her morning news report in front of the bathroom mirror, that could cause her to talk to herself for an extended period of time.

"Oh my gosh. I've been looking for a pair of these leggings since April!" She circled them.

She sat cross legged on the living room floor in front of the coffee table, a can of pop beside her and a million outfit possibilities before her, making her more excited by the second. Keely loved going back to school almost as much as getting out of it.

Her mom was out showing a house, and Phil had agreed to help his dad do some yard work this afternoon. Without future gadgets. It his only punishment after the party...not too harsh, considering it had really been more Pim's fault than his that he'd had it.

As for Pim… we'll get back to that one.

Keely had just turned the page to find that it was full of adorable, frilly underwear when the back door opened. She turned her head, surprised, trying to remember who else was here.

Oh, yeah… she realized. She heard her father's and her uncle's voices approaching.

She pretended to be fully absorbed in her clothes hunting as they came into the room, even though she wasn't anymore. Her uncle left the room as soon as he'd entered, heading up the short flight of stairs to the second story of the split level house.

"Hey, Keely." Her dad's voice was unnaturally loud, like he was trying to make some kind of grand entrance. She smiled softly.

"Hey." She absently circled a random pair of boxers that she wasn't even sure she liked.

He walked over, sitting on the couch behind her. She reached for her pop can, taking a drink, glancing sideways as she wondered if he was going to say something.

"Hey, your uncle and I were studying up on what there is to see in the surrounding areas of Pickford," he said. "We decided to go check out…" He paused for dramatic effect. "The world's second largest ball of yarn! Wanna come with?" He sounded like an excited teenager.

Keely tried to hide the expression of disgust on her face, but it wasn't easy since her hair was pulled back. She opted for looking down at the coffee table instead.

"Oh…the…the second largest yarn ball, huh?" She cleared her throat. "Where's…where's that?"

"Oh, about an hour north of here," her dad answered. "We figured it'd be worth the drive, though. Not too many opportunities to see something like that!"

The words left Keely's mouth before she realized it. "Except the world's_ first_ largest ball of yarn," she muttered.

"What's that?"

"Um, nothing." She sighed. "Dad, I…that sounds really cool and everything, but…"

_The world's biggest ball of yarn? That's the father daughter experience he had in mind? After four years of the occasional birthday card and postcard from Las Vegas or wherever he was at, he shows up and wants to take me to see something I could see at Grandma's house in its normal size?_

"I think this afternoon I'm just gonna hang around here and…work on some stuff I wanted to work on," she answered politely, but quickly, glancing down at her catalogue. Hey, it counted…

She didn't want to seem too rude, so she attempted some eye contact. She gave her dad a polite smile, and added, "Sorry. It does sound…really tremendous." Best word she could think of for the second largest yarn ball in the world.

Her dad just shrugged. "Well…okay, if you're sure." He grinned. "It would be really cool though. I can't believe you haven't been up to see it yet yourself, living so close. You can still say yes…"

"That's okay, really." She squeezed her pink pen, willing herself to not show her irritation. "Thanks anyway, Dad."

He nodded. "Well, alright," he responded. "You've got things to do." He leaned back against the couch, folding his arms over his chest.

Keely tried to get back to her catalogue.

"So, what's up this afternoon then?" her dad asked casually. "Hanging out with the boyfriend?"

Keely stopped in the middle of circling a pair of sunglasses. She swallowed, shifting uncomfortably. She didn't know why the question made her feel that way. She wasn't sure how her father felt about that whole…thing, and she had never flat out told him that she was dating Phil, even though it was probably pretty obvious.

She cleared her throat.

"Uh, no," she responded. "He's helping around the house today. So if we do, not until…much later."

"Aha. I see." Her father just nodded. Was he smiling to himself?

She sucked in her breath, ready to say something to him. She didn't speak fast enough.

Footsteps thudded down the stairs. "Dad, that's pretty much the last thing I want to do. If you don't mind, I think I'll grab some hamburger meat from the freezer and watch it defrost instead." Melody entered the room in a flash of long blonde hair as she flipped it over her shoulder in annoyance.

She'd stolen the words straight from somewhere within Keely's mind...but go figure, Melody was the one who would actually say them.

"Hey," Uncle Bob said, following his daughter in. "Mellie, you've gotten yourself a pretty big attitude lately, and I'm not so sure I like it. I'd appreciate it if you'd cut that out."

"Oh, you've noticed something about me, huh? I'm amazed. And stop with the 'Mellie' stuff."

"Okay, that's enough. What do you mean, stop with the Mellie stuff? I've called you that since—"

"You called me that when you were being all affectionate and Dad-like and stuff. Right now you're just being… impossible."

"I'm being impossible? So what would you call the way you're acting, young lady?"

"Young lady? Where did_ that_ come from, 'Mr. Cool Dad'?" She did air quotes with her fingers.

Keely saw her dad stand up.

"Hey, uh," he began cautiously, intervening. "Melody, it's okay if you take a rain check on the big ball of yarn. It's obviously not something that thrills most teenagers." He glanced at Keely, then at Melody's father. "Especially those with boyfriends."

Uncle Bob sighed, forfeiting. Keely looked at her dad, feeling her face grow hotter. "Dad, I—" She didn't even know how to respond. What was he trying to say?

Melody glanced at her uncle, then at her dad. "Yeah, well…I think I will take that rain check or whatever. Thanks." She headed out of the room in the opposite direction from which she had come.

Uncle Bob dropped his arms at his side in defeat. "All right then," he said, putting on a smile. "It's just us. Are you going, kiddo?" He was asking Keely. She was surprised her dad's little side note hadn't given it away.

She looked up. "I, uh…"

"She's got some stuff to do today," her dad responded for her. "Important teenage stuff, you know. Looks like it's just you and me today, bro."

Keely gritted her teeth, less than two seconds from giving him a taste of some of that teenage stuff…

Her phone rang instead. She grabbed it, checking the ID to see "Mom" blinking back at her. She flipped it open and made a point be completely ignore anyone else in the room. Right now she didn't care.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi sweetie. Just wanted to let you know that we're going to be done here pretty soon." Her mom's chipper voice was a completely different universe right now. "I was thinking that once I finish up, I can come home and get you and we could go grab something to eat. Just the two of us." She paused. "Or, if you're cousin's up to it, you could ask her to come…" But she sounded like she didn't quite believe what she was saying.

Keely scoffed. "Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and assume that she's not," she replied, tossing down her pen.

"Well…okay." Mandy sighed. "I thought so. Hey, that's okay. Just you and me. Think you could be ready by six?"

It was 5:30. Keely smiled. She was so, so happy to take up this offer. Just she and her mom, like it used to be, away from all… this.

"Of course," she replied. "Definitely. I'll see you then?"

"Okay, Poptart!" her mom exclaimed, thrilled. "I'll be there at six, no later!"

"Awesome. I'll see you then. Love you, Mom." _I really, really, really do…she's getting me out of here…_

"I love you too, pookie. Bye!"

Keely hung up her phone and put it down on the table. She was now alone in the room again.

"Pookie?" she wondered aloud.

She shook her head.

…..

She was putting on mascara when she realized how unnaturally quiet the house was. She paused a moment, waited quietly, and then slowly went back to her eyelashes.

She continued with her eyeshadow and her lipgloss. Her flat iron was hot enough, so she ran it through her blonde tresses quickly. She started humming; "Protecting Me" was the tune. When she was satisfied with her hair, she unplugged the flat iron, grabbed her makeup and continued humming out of the bathroom and towards her bedroom.

She entered her room, placed her makeup on her dresser, and stopped. It was then she realized that something was different, and it wasn't just in her head.

"Melody?" she said aloud as it clicked in her mind, more to herself than anything. She looked around, down at the bed. Everything was there just as she'd left it. Must have gone downstairs, Keely thought. She dabbed on some lipgloss and grabbed her purse.

It was_ really_ quiet in her house.

She didn't know why, or how, but she just had this…feeling. Like even though tonight felt like it was really working out now, there was some kind of catch. She pictured Melody storming out of the room earlier, after arguing with her dad.

She glanced downward, and that's when she saw it.

"Whoa," she whispered thoughtfully, leaning down to pick up a half heart necklace from the floor, near the doorway. She held it up. The clasp was undone, and the chain dangled in front of her.

"_My mom wears the other half…I never take it off…"_

"Never," Keely remembered, puzzled. She looked around the room. "What the heck?"

Slowly, she left her bedroom, looking around her as she went down the hall and stairs. "Uh…Melody?" she called out tentatively throughout the house. "You're here, aren't you?"

And…no reply.

She sighed, standing in her front hallway, and she felt her shoulders slump. "Great," she mumbled. "I…I don't believe this."

She took another look at the necklace, then closed her fingers around it. She checked the living room, kitchen, laundry room, the bathroom, guest room, the backyard, even her mom's room. Anywhere.

She found herself back in the front hallway at the end of it all, alone in a house she wasn't supposed to be alone in.

"Oy flippin' vey, this is fantastic!" she sighed, pulling out her phone to call her mom.

Her brow furrowed. If she called her mom, and Melody was missing, her mom would probably call the cops. They'd be out looking, everyone would have to wait at the house, and their night of perfectly happy mother-daughter time would be total chaos instead.

She bit her lip, torn. In the hall mirror, she could see herself reflected. She was dressed nicely, all ready to leave, her young, pretty blonde self as usual. If she smiled, everything might even look normal. But instead, her expression was upset, angry and confused. She examined herself for a moment. _Why don't I smile as much lately? That's who I am…I'm Keely, I always smile! Why does everything have to…prevent that from happening?_

She sighed, and headed for the front door. She pulled it open, stepped out onto the front porch. The sun was setting over her neighborhood. Hopefully her mom would be a little late…as much as she didn't want her to be.

"Fifteen minutes," she sighed, her eyebrows knit together. "I've got fifteen minutes to find my MIA cousin before I can go out to eat dinner with my own mom. And now I'm talking to myself, again! This is…"

She faltered as the white sheet of paper caught her eye, easy to see against the bright green grass. She stepped closer, looked around, stepped closer again, as if it were some alien artifact.

When she got close enough to see the handwriting scrawled on it, something clicked in her brain. She sighed. "What is this, a treasure hunt?" she whispered. She leaned to pick it up.

Despite her better judgments, her eyes wandered over it.

"You suffocate me…you drown me out," she read. "I feel I'm fading, I flicker out…" As her eyes scanned the paper, they turned softer. In her cousin's quickly scrawled but kind of girlish handwriting, she could practically see her face…and it looked like it did the day she stepped out from behind the car, weighted down by everything she had to carry.

"There's so much you're missing…if you cared, you'd listen…"

Keely raised her eyes from the paper. So this was it. This was what she always kept hidden, away from everyone else.

Keely suddenly felt uneasy, like a trespasser. She looked around, glanced at the paper, then back up. She wasn't actually one, though, because it had just been…laying there…in her front yard…?

"Where did you _go?"_ she wondered aloud.

So she found herself following the sidewalk, looking for any more of the papers. She couldn't believe she was doing it. "This is ridiculous," she sighed repeatedly. The minutes were ticking by, the sun had gone down.

Keely was at the end of her block now, looking around in desperation. She groaned. "Please, please just…let me know where she is," she mumbled to the darkening sky. "I've got a dinner date with Mom in ten minutes that I just really need to get to…I mean, as if all this stuff isn't crazy enough! Why can't I just have this one night?" Her arm flopped to her side. The paper slipped from her fingers, fluttering down towards the sidewalk. A breeze picked it up.

"Oh, geez…" She ran around the corner after it, watching it tumble and bounce. She didn't know why she bothered, as Melody would probably never miss it…

The breeze blew again, lifting the paper up higher into the air, as it swirled forward. Keely moaned, increasing her steps to a light jog. "I should just forget about this," she spat angrily. "Just forget it..." She stopped, sighing, her hands on her hips.

The breeze stopped too a second later, and about twenty feet down the walk, the paper slowly floated down, settling in the grass right outside of a wire fence. Keely watched it.

For some reason, she started towards it, even though everything told her to turn around and go back home, call her mom, report a missing cousin, forget the dinner date…

"This is so dumb," she whispered to herself, no longer caring how crazy it made her seem, talking to no one. "Melody is missing! Why haven't I called someone already? Ah scraps…I need to get home, but I should call my mom first and, oh, who cares about the food, I…"

She heard the squeaking of a moving swing before she saw anything. When she finally did come to her senses, she found herself standing outside the fence on one side of a little playground. It had gotten darker, but she could still make out the familiar shapes of the slide and the swingset and the monkey bars…Then, finally, the silhouette sitting on one swing, slowly moving it back and forward.

It didn't matter that Keely was looking at them from behind…she knew.

Sighing with relief, she rolled her eyes up towards the heavens and pressed her hands together in a silent thanks. Then, quietly and cautiously, she walked forward, picked up the paper, then walked around the fence. The gravel crunched underneath her feet.

Melody's head snapped sideways at the sound, looking stunned. Keely stopped in her tracks.

"Uh, sorry," she said quietly.

Melody sighed when she identified Keely, then dropped her eyes to her lap.

"It's fine."

Another breeze blew, but this time, Keely held onto the paper.

"So, uh…" She sighed. "Melody, what are you doing here?"

Melody raised her eyebrows, looking up, but not at her cousin. "Uh, sitting," she responded. "What, is that against the rules around here too?"

"No," Keely sighed, reminding herself to keep her patience. "It's just…you had me freaked out, okay?"

Melody just shook her head. "Well, that's nice to know," she replied. "I've made an impact somehow."

Keely gazed at her cousin. "What?"

"I've…made…an…"

"Yes, Melody, I'm not so blonde that I couldn't understand what you said." Keely sighed, closing her eyes. "Sorry. I just…why did you do this? I was gonna go out to dinner with my mom, and you just…disappeared…"

"Well, then, go." She rolled her eyes.

"I can't. You were missing." Keely noticed her cousin's black notebook, lying on the gravel next to her swing.

"And why is that your problem?" For the first time since Keely had gotten here, Melody made eye contact with her.

Keely didn't even know what to say.

"I…" She sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "You know what Melody? I don't know. I don't know why it's my problem, but I know it's a problem, and you know, if it's okay with you, I thought maybe I would try to help. I know you think it totally sucks here, and that there's no possible way things could get better, but I'd like to let you know that—"

"Oh, okay," Melody laughed. She slowly stood up. "Excuse me, miss optimism, I have to stop you there."

Keely looked shocked at her cousin's shift in mood…from bad to worse.

"You know, it's real easy to see the world…you know…the way_ you_ do, when everything's already peachy all the time. I mean…just…look at you! It's all just mapped out, isn't it?

"What… I… mapped out?"

"Everything. It must be nice. You can't honestly tell me you have complaints about your life, Keely. Your mom just raves about you. You've got the perfect, best looking boyfriend anyone could ever find. Don't deny it. You've got your whole little reporter thing going on, your big perfect smile, your cute clothes, your…" She stopped herself, shaking her head. She looked down at the gravel.

Keely was silent. Her head was spinning.

"You know what, never mind," Melody said, except this time, her voice was quiet. "It's just that…there's you, and then there's…me." She shook her head. "You just don't even know, okay?"

Keely shook her head too, slowly. She was stunned.

"Wow," she said finally. "Wow. No, I…I guess I don't know." She gazed intensely at her cousin. "I don't know how you even think that, for one thing. Where…where did you get all of this?"

Melody looked surprised. "From…you!" she cried. "From suddenly ending up in your house one day before I even had anything to say about it, from watching everything run smoothly in your life where mine is just…" She trailed off. "What's that?"

Keely followed her gaze down to her hand, more specifically, to the piece of paper she held in it. "Oh, uh," she began, holding it up awkwardly. "It's, um…I just…found it…"

Melody looked cautious as she grabbed it from Keely's hand, turning it over. Instantly she recognized it, and instantly her eyes shot up to meet Keely's.

"Did you… read this?"

Keely looked uneasily at Melody. "Well I mean, I… kinda. It was just kinda there, in front of me…it was on my front lawn!" she exclaimed. "It's how I figured out you must be…gone." She paused. "Oh, and, um…this." She unfolded her hand, holding up the half heart necklace.

Melody's eyes fell upon it, and she was silent for a few seconds. She bit her lip.

"Do you want it?" Keely asked.

Melody stared at it for a second, then looked away. She sighed, but reached up and gently took it back. Then she turned around, just holding it, looking down.

Keely looked around the playground, sighing. Her mom was probably home now, worrying…

"Why do you always run away, Melody?" she demanded.

She didn't expect an answer right away, but she kind of needed one. They were running on extremely borrowed time. It was dusk now, and a streetlight nearby had just blinked on.

Her cousin's answer came quietly at first. "Maybe…I'm trying to figure out where else I'm supposed to be, and doing it wrong," she said. Then her voice grew a little louder. "Wouldn't you, Keely? I mean, think about it. What if, once, for five minutes, your life wasn't totally amazing?" She turned back around.

Keely blinked.

"Melody, I… I wish you got it," she snapped back. "I…" She trailed off.

"Got what?" Melody scoffed.

Keely sighed. "That you're not the only one who is going through some stuff right now, okay? You think you are, but you're not."

"Okay, thanks. How much do I owe you for that psychiatry session?"

"Just stop!" Keely yelled, and they both looked surprised at her tone. "Melody, I… is there any helping you? I want to, believe it or not, but I can't! You just won't let anyone help!"

"And why do you want to help me?" she scoffed. "Seriously. Why?"

Keely just shrugged as she tried to come up with an answer.

"What happened, anyway?" she asked finally. "I mean, the last time I saw you, you were the one who was always smiling. I thought you had everything together. I mean, your parents were always both there and they never seemed to fight or have any problems, and…you had the cutest Barbie towel…"

Melody raised her eyebrows.

"And I don't know, I was little, but I just remember thinking…how happy you were. And now…"

Melody just looked around the park. She began to nod slowly. Keely couldn't tell anything from the expression on her face.

She sighed, waiting to see what the next thing her cousin had to say about that would be.

"That was a long time ago," she said finally. Her voice was really quiet.

Keely looked back at her. "Yeah…" She sighed. And then she noticed the look in Melody's eyes; faraway.

Keely nodded.

"You… you do get it," she answered. "I know you do…" She looked at Melody's necklace. "Your mom is there, you're here in a new place with your dad, and it all sucks. But you know what? My mom's here, my dad was there, and now he's here, and I don't know if I want him there or here, and he _should _be here, and he _hasn't_ been…" She shook her head. "You… you can tell me that not everything in your life is perfect, but you can't tell me that everything is perfect in mine, Melody. I think we both have a little something that we're… missing out on."

Melody was silent. A breeze ruffled the trees.

Finally, she looked at Keely and nodded. Keely went ahead and took that as an "I know."

"So…" Keely wrung her hands together, idly. "Do you wanna head back now? They're probably worried…"

Melody shrugged. "You go ahead…I'll follow."

Keely sighed. "No, I'd really rather…"

She was cut short as headlights filled the darkening playground, and she squinted against them. Melody turned around.

A car had pulled up just outside the playground, and came to a stop. The headlights went off. Behind it, an SUV pulled up. And then she came to realization.

"Keely?" her dad called as he climbed out of the passenger seat of the car.

She looked at him tentatively. _Oh great._ He shut the door and walked around the front of his car towards her.

The other car's driver door opened too, and of course, Uncle Bob climbed out.

"Mellie," he called, sounding relieved. "There you are."

She sighed and turned around, her back facing him.

Keely's dad came up next to her, stopping just short of his daughter. She saw relief in his face, too. She actually felt a flutter of satisfaction for that. And at the same time… guilt.

"Hey there," he said, smiling half heartedly. "We've been driving around for a good twenty minutes looking for you girls. We split up…then Uncle Bob thought maybe Melody would be here. He said she's run away to parks before, when she was younger. Anyway…you really have your mom worried, kiddo."

Keely crossed her arms over her chest, taking all this in.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I just…I had to find Melody. She ran off. I know Mom and I have dinner plans, but…I didn't know what to do…" She paused. "Aren't you supposed to be out looking at that big huge yarn ball?" She felt the familiar disgust from earlier welling up inside her.

"Until we got a call from your mom," he answered. "Then we turned around and came right back."

Keely gazed up at him. Then she looked down, nodding slowly. "Oh," she replied.

In the background, Uncle Bob was trying to talk to Melody, without much success.

"So you abandoned your big activity of the day just to come find out where your moody teenage daughter had run off to? Well, Dad, I'm flattered," she scoffed.

"Yeah, I did, Mel," he replied. "Because I happen to care a lot about my moody teenage daughter, and I didn't really like the idea of you out running around some town you aren't even that familiar with."

"Whatever…" She turned and stalked back towards the car. "Can we just go?"

Keely watched her walk past, looked back at her dad, and shrugged. Awkwardly, she decided to follow.

"Hey, Keel, wait a minute."

She froze in her tracks. _Keel?_ Only one person called her Keel.

"Yeah?" She bit her lip.

"Do you…do you want to talk?"

Talk? Did she want to _talk?_

Wow…

She took a deep breath.

"Not here," she answered finally. She walked towards the car.

Her dad watched her go, and followed seconds later.


	16. I Don't Know You, But I Still Want To

Keely climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. It was the first time she'd ever been in her dad's car…this one, anyway. It smelled faintly of peppermint. She took a deep breath, buckling her seatbelt.

The other door opened, and her dad climbed in. She waited for him to start the car. He didn't. He just placed his hands against the wheel, looking out through the windshield. Then he looked over at Keely, just gazing at her.

She noticed after a couple of seconds.

"What?" she asked finally, wondering if the shaking in her voice was as evident to him as it was to her.

Her father just smiled softly, and for a moment, she wondered if he was going to answer at all. He shook his head, barely.

"I'm just sitting here, looking at you, and wondering," he replied, "how you can be so wonderful, when…" He gazed ahead of him for a second, and then without looking back at Keely, finished. "When you've had something like this happen. When you haven't had… the typical parent situation."

His words were so quiet that if there had been any other sounds around them, she probably wouldn't have heard them. And they were heavy.

Keely had been staring at her lap as he spoke, and it was a good thing she had. Instantly she felt all kinds of emotions take over her face, and her mind. Her head began to spin as she heard her dad, for the first time, acknowledge what he had done.

He had stopped speaking as if he thought she might respond, but when she didn't, he continued.

"I just…I guess I'm glad about that, Keely," he said. "I'm glad that you turned out as, as fantastic as you did. You've got… such a good heart."

Keely closed her eyes for a minute, fighting it.

"Well," she replied finally, "I've had a really good example. Mom."

Greg nodded. "She is very much like you," he agreed, very quietly.

Silence. Keely looked out the dark window, at the lights in the near distance. She took a hold of her necklace. Habit.

"And…" Greg tapped the steering wheel. "I just wish I had some of the credit for that too, I guess."

Keely's grip on the necklace tightened.

The words fought their way up her throat, like a meal gone wrong. She couldn't keep them in.

"You could have had some," she replied.

He was silent for a couple seconds. "I…"

"Ten years ago. You could have. I was what, like six? I barely knew how to tie my shoes. I was just getting the hang of the whole bike riding thing. I couldn't braid my own hair or cook a meal for myself. There was so much I still had to be taught." She took a breath. "You know how you see those commercials with the little girls and their dads behind them, holding up their bike without training wheels? Yeah, I would have loved that, just so you know." She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip so hard, it hurt. Her mind was reeling.

Greg just stared at the wheel. It almost looked like he had been zoning out the whole time, but she knew he'd heard everything she said.

Nearly ten seconds went by, and there was nothing but silence. Keely stole a glance at him, only to see that he hadn't moved a muscle. Her mind screamed at him. She seriously contemplated opening the passenger door and just running away. They always did that in movies, after making a big speech.

"I would have loved that, too," he answered. As quiet as his voice was, the sudden sound of it surprised her.

She just stared at him, taken aback.

"Then, Dad, why…?" She felt like she was out of breath. She had to pause to swallow.

"You…you missed it," she said. "You missed me growing up. You missed so much! How much do you actually know about me anyway? Do you know what my favorite colors are? You know what my favorite candy is? What do I want to be when I'm grown up? When did I lose my first tooth? You know my birthday's in March, right?" She felt her face growing hotter. Her voice box felt fragile, like it was going to give out on her any second. She felt like she was standing outside of the car, just watching herself yell, listening to her voice get louder and louder, and thinking _Wow, Keely._ _Are you seriously saying all this?_ "If you would have loved to be there, well newsflash, _you could have been_! So… _why_?" Her heart pounded in her ears. Her hands were shaking.

She finally got the nerve to look over at him, to see if he'd registered any of that.

He just closed his eyes, but she could hardly tell until the streetlight caught his face. All she could hear was her heart. The loudness kind of scared her, and she wondered if it was loud enough for him to hear.

"Keely," he whispered. She looked at him.

"I don't ever want you to be that gutless. I don't ever want you to run away like that, in anything you do." He looked at her, finally. "Can you promise me that?"

She had to remind herself to breathe.

She looked away slowly, and stared at the dashboard.

"I…" When her voice cracked, she tried again. "I can. I _won't_."

Despite the slight iciness of her last word, he nodded, seeming satisfied. Finally, he turned the key in the ignition, and the car started. Keely was still shaking. She felt like she was in a dream, some weird out of body experience, where everything is surreal.

"Pink," her father answered. "That's been your favorite color since you were three. You love Pop Rocks. You lost your first tooth when you were almost seven; I saw the pictures. You were born on the twenty fifth." He stared straight ahead. "And I think you'll make a tremendous news reporter."

She felt her breath catch in her chest, and her eyes widen.

She had to look at him.

But she had no idea what to say.

She closed her eyes for a minute, and felt a burning sensation behind her eyelids. When she opened them, she happened to look up, her eye catching the pull down mirror above her. Stuck precariously under the side of it was a picture of her. She was younger, probably thirteen, and had a huge smile, showing that she'd just recently had her braces removed.

Dumbstruck, she stared at it for a long moment, and when she pulled her eyes away, they were in her driveway.

Her father shut off the car, and Keely, robotically, reached for the door handle.

"I'm not proud of myself," her dad said, piercing the silence.

Keely paused.

"But I'm very proud of you, honey."

He reached over and gently, carefully, placed his hand on her upper back, over the top of her hair.

She felt an odd combination of warmth and shivering, like she was being sprayed with water that was quickly alternating between hot and cold.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice trembling, and got out of the car.

As soon as she climbed the porch steps, her mom opened the door and hugged her. "Hi, Mom," Keely sighed. "I'm so sorry…"

"Oh, butternut," she said. "I'm just so glad you're okay. Where's Melody? Is she okay? Did you find her?"

"Yeah," Keely responded, looking over her shoulder. Her dad crossed the lawn behind her. "We found her. And she's okay."

"Greg, where is she?" Mandy asked.

"With Robert," he answered.

Mandy sighed with relief. "Well, for Pete's sake. Why do you think she'd just run away like that? Her father must have been scared senseless. I was scared enough with my baby out looking for her." She held an arm around Keely.

Keely didn't know how to answer that one. She felt that odd shivering sensation again, as her father stepped onto the porch.

Mandy looked over at her daughter. "Are you cold, honey?"

Keely tried not to tense up. "No," she said, playing dumb. "Why?" She glanced at her dad, for a fraction of a second, then away. She didn't know why she did.

"I don't know, you just seemed like you were shivering there for a second," Mandy answered. "Let's go inside."

She turned and led Keely through the doorway.

"Mom," Keely said, once they were inside the door, "I'm sorry about dinner. I just really didn't know what to do…"

"Keely, I'm glad you did what you did," Mandy responded. "Please don't worry about dinner, sweetie. It's all right." She held an arm around Keely again. "If you want to know… I'm proud of you."

She smiled at Keely, and Keely returned it. Although her mom was shorter than she was, she leaned a head on her shoulder anyway.

Behind them, Keely's dad turned and looked out towards the driveway. "They're here," he informed them.

Keely and Mandy looked out to see the SUV pulling up, headlights sweeping the yard. "Oh, thank goodness," Mandy sighed.

She was there at the front door as they walked up. Keely stood off to the side a little, and her dad had quietly taken a seat on the couch.

Melody walked in wordlessly. Mandy put a hand on her shoulder, letting Melody know that she was glad she was back. Melody just smiled weakly, as her dad came in behind her.

In the light, Keely saw the traces of tears on her cheeks. But only when the light hit them one certain way.

"Well, everyone's okay," Uncle Bob announced, smiling. He put a hand on each of Melody's shoulders. "It's been a long night, is all."

The adults nodded in agreement. Keely just let her eyes fall wherever they fell; she ended up gazing at her cousin's black and white Converse shoes, and her jeans with self placed holes ripped in them, one of them held halfway by a safety pin. She looked at her own shoes, pink ballet flats, and white gaucho pants.

Looking outwardly at the two of them together, they seemed like something comparative to day and night. Literally… the black and white thing really set it off. But somehow, even after what had happened tonight, she felt...okay with that, sort of. Night is a little darker and quieter than day, and the darkness takes some getting used to. But it really is beautiful, once you're familiar with it…

"I'm going into the bedroom now, if nobody minds," Melody whispered. Her eyes, lined in black eyeliner that was smudging, were downcast. She turned to go.

Keely watched her Uncle Bob reach out and gently grab his daughter by the elbow.

"Mellie, don't go yet," he said. She stopped reluctantly.

Bob took ahold of his daughter's shoulders and turned her around so she was facing him, then pulled her into a firm hug. His arms wrapped her tightly, as if he'd been missing her for ages.

Maybe he had.

Even a moment later, as Mandy put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and quietly suggested that they "give them some time," she heard her uncle whispering to his daughter, telling her everything was going to be okay. She hoped Melody believed it.

When she heard the quiet sobbing, muffled by Uncle Bob's shirt, Keely suspected that maybe she did.

……

"Water or lemonade?" Pim asked, holding out the tray with two glasses perched on top. It almost hurt to talk this cheerfully, but it was all part of the deal.

Phil leaned back in his chair in the living room, contemplating. "Well, on the one hand, water is best for you," he thought aloud. "On the other, lemonade…mmm. It sure is tasty, especially after a day of yard work. And after all, it really is just lemons and water. I don't know. I can't seem to decide. Which would you suggest?"

He expected to see Pim's blue eyes burning into him when he looked up at her smiling, and he did. It just made everything more fun.

"You want to know what I would suggest?" she asked, her voice strained.

He nodded.

"I would suggest," she began cheerfully, "that you shut up and pick something or you won't have much of a choice between them; one of them will end up all over your lap anyway."

"Oh yeah? And how much extra punishment time do you think that's equivalent to?"

"Oh, plenty, but it'd be so, so worth it…"

"Phil, Pim, I'm thinking of ordering a pizza for dinner tonight," Barb announced as she came into the room. "You and your dad have spent the day working in the yard, Phil, and I know you love pizza, and well, it'd be a little easier for me." She laughed sheepishly.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Pim declared. "Phil's being punished for what happened at the party too. And he gets_ rewarded _with pizza?"

"I'm not rewarding anybody, Pim," Barb reasoned. "Anyway, you like pizza too."

Pim couldn't help it. She scoffed.

"Look at him, Mom," she said, gesturing to her brother. "He's sitting here like the king of the free world, demanding water and lemonade from me. Now is that really fair?"

"Pim, part of your punishment was extra house work, which includes bringing drinks out to your dad and brother while they were working on the lawn."

"They're not even working on the lawn anymore!" she argued. "He's just sitting here, making a dent in your chair." She glared down at him.

"Hey, I'm not asking much," Phil said, putting his hands up.

"Phil, Pim," Barb said sternly. "You have both been given your punishments, and arguing against them will only get more added on. Pim, you've been a great help today whether you like it or not. Please, don't ruin that. Now both of you get ready for dinner, please." She smiled pleasantly and left the room.

Pim sighed, turning to go.

"Wait a minute," Phil said. "I've decided on lemonade, please."

With her back to him, Pim narrowed her eyes, and silently mocked him. Then she plastered on her brightest smile, picked up the lemonade glass from the tray, and turned to hand it to Phil.

"Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, Philip, you really are." She turned to go.

As he sipped his drink, she paused, turning around. Gazing at the back of his head, she quickly dipped her fingers in the water, and flicked as much as she could at him. Quickly, she spun around and made her exit.

This time, her smile was for real.


End file.
